Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: The Power to Protect
by ShadowCell
Summary: AU rewrite, prologue to other stories. The war has ended with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance declaring a ceasefire, but the silencing of the guns has been anything but a blessing for Kira Yamato, until a certain angel arrives to give him hope...
1. Phase 01: A Hero Betrayed

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

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Disclaimer: _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ASTRAY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV _and _SEED DESTINY MSV_ are the property of Bandai and Sunrise, not me. I make no money off this little venture. This is purely for entertainment purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.

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I think _Gundam SEED_ and, more specifically, _Gundam SEED DESTINY_ suck. I have made this known to people. Some of _DESTINY_'s most ardent fans have, in their own way, challenged me to do better.

So I will.

Mitsuo Fukuda forgot about all the hardship he put Kira through at the end of _SEED_, sweeping it all aside and turning Kira into an unsympathetic idealist who went through all the hatred and suffering that any other _Gundam_ protagonist has gone through, but unlike other _Gundam_ protagonists, never lost his naiveté and learned from any of what he went through. I, however, have not forgotten everything that Kira went through. Therefore, this fic, starting right at the end of the revised end of _SEED_ in "Seeds of Shadows," will explore Kira's psyche after all these traumatic events. The changes here will tie into later fics. This fic will cover Kira between _SEED_ and _DESTINY_, and would be pertinent for some of the changes seen later on.

I will post a new chapter every Friday, or the soonest day thereafter should something arise on Friday to keep me from posting.

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Phase 01 - A Hero Betrayed

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**September 27th, CE 71 - ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, ZAFT space fortress Jachin Due, Lagrange Point 5**

He was finally asleep.

It had taken some powerful tranquilizers and a lot of soothing, calming words, but Kira Yamato was finally asleep, and Rau Le Creuset could not be any happier. That kid sure knew how to cry.

Now, Rau found himself in a hallway near an empty crewman's room—its previous inhabitant was probably dead—aboard the _Pythagoras_. He found himself missing his old ship, the _Vesalius_—though the hallway looked exactly the same, and was in exactly the same place, the _Vesalius_ had an air of familiarity that the _Pythagoras _was lacking. Rau, of course, knew that such familiarity was not something that could be manufactured, and brushed it off as meaningless. Soon, the _Pythagoras_ would be as familiar as the _Vesalius_ had been, and that annoying feeling of displacement would not be a factor anymore.

He paused, and noted which room he had left Kira in, before he heaved a sigh and headed off towards the bridge.

Everything was in chaos. The PLANT Supreme Council had formally taken over everything in ZAFT, down to the last soldier, and silenced the guns on ZAFT's side, requesting that what was left of the Earth Alliance fleet do the same. They were in the middle of hastily negotiating a ceasefire, which many hoped would be the precursor to a more permanent treaty. However, Rau knew better; the Coordinators of the PLANTs and the Naturals of the Earth Alliance hated each other too much, and now that both sides had expanded their levels of technology this far, neither side was going to commit themselves to peace. After all, peace meant disarmament, and the man with the biggest gun was never willing to put it down without a fight. The only thing stopping them right now was mutual exhaustion.

The battle itself, however, had been draining. Rau could see it in the tired, drooping, half-closed eyes of the crew of the _Pythagoras_. So much had transpired, so many had died...

He glanced over his shoulder, at the room where Kira was finally sleeping. Kira had been fighting hard to protect people, but when it came down to it, all the firepower of his mighty Freedom Gundam could do nothing to stop the dying. The dead died regardless of the Three Ships Alliance's sanctimonious interference—Lacus Clyne had tried to stop the end of the circle of life, and like all those before her who tried to defy nature, failed. Not even Coordinators could stop death. And now, her self-righteous crusader would pay the ultimate price for her foolish ideals.

Idealists had a long fall beneath them, after all.

It had all gone so splendidly, Rau thought with almost ghoulish delight. The _Dominion_'s escape shuttle, which so luckily happened to be carrying one Fllay Allster, strayed close enough to the battlefield. And Athrun Zala's Justice Gundam just happened to look as if it had blown the shuttle away. And, with Kira's nerves already weakened by the dizzying revelations Rau had dumped on him earlier at the Mendel colony, and with the accumulated hardship he had endured throughout the war, Fllay's death was the final trigger needed to turn Kira Yamato into the ultimate weapon.

Unfortunately, GENESIS's nuclear explosion had stopped Kira from getting rid of that annoying Athrun immediately, but that was no matter. Athrun found it difficult to fight Kira before, when both were held back by their mutual reluctance to fight. He would find it even harder now, when Kira was irrevocably out for blood.

However, at the moment, Kira was a broken soul, his grief over Fllay's death compounded by an overwhelming sense of guilt that he had not been there to protect her, and an even stronger feeling of failure.

Rau smiled darkly. _She_ would fix that.

At last he arrived on the bridge, and the crew saluted him tiredly, obviously too drained to even move from their seats without their battle-numbed bodies protesting.

The captain of the _Pythagoras_ was a stout, muscular man called Cummings, packed into an ill-fitting ZAFT Black Shirt uniform. He had survived this long by avoiding all the important battles, particularly the ones involving overemotional teenagers and powerful prototype mobile suits. He seemed much like Ades on the _Vesalius_, but with an even greater air of caution around him— which was probably what kept him away from the teenagers and Gundams. His face was lined with pain and stress and lack of sleep, characteristic of an officer who had just seen the men under his command die. But the captain could not falter, and so he was trying to present the calm, paternal anchor for his battle-weary crew as best he could. The war had made him look old...but the war had made everyone look old.

Cummings saluted robotically as Rau entered the bridge, and he returned the salute casually.

"I suppose everything is still a mess?" Rau asked, taking a seat above the captain's chair. Cummings nodded, and Rau sensed from his darkening expression that the man had been involved far too much in this mess for his mental health.

"I can appreciate a ceasefire as much as the next person," he grumbled in a baritone that had all the warmth and compassion of a diesel engine idling, "but I wish they'd start telling _us_ what to do here."

Rau allowed himself a smile. "It can't be helped," he said. "Ceasefires always tend to throw both sides into chaos."

Cummings looked out the bridge windows sadly. "Well, the war may be over now," he said with a sigh, "but we'll still have plenty to do."

Rau's smile grew just a bit. "Oh yes," he agreed, "we certainly will."

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**September 28th, CE 71 - _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras,_ Lagrange Point 5**

_Kira watched the Justice fire, but the shot missed the Providence. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The shot drilled through the _Dominion_'s escape shuttle—_

_"FLLAY!"_

Kira turned over, clenching his fists, trying to block the images out.

"He couldn't," he whispered, his voice broken and wavering.

_Athrun's beam rifle fell, the DRAGOON units were silent, and the Providence backed away._

_"K-Kira," Athrun stuttered, "I—"_

"He killed her," he whispered again, writhing in the sheets, tears staining his face. "He did it...he killed her..."

He turned over again, sobbing again, and clutched his stomach as he began to feel sick.

_Kira cut him off with a sob, staring in horror, tears clouding his eyes, at the field of debris that remained of the _Dominion_'s escape shuttle._

_"Fllay!" he screamed, the Freedom diving down towards the debris. "Fllay! You can't—Fllay! FLLAY!"_

"He took her away from me," Kira growled, his fists clenching around the sheets, his fingers whitening. "He...he _killed her..._"

_The Freedom stopped amidst the debris._

_"Kira!" Athrun exclaimed. "I was aiming at Rau, but—"_

"_You killed her_," he snarled, his bloodshot eyes widening with hatred as stared at the images, as he stared at Athrun's unrepentant face. "_You...I...I'll never forgive you..._"

_"YOU KILLED HER!" Kira shrieked. The Freedom turned and roared up towards the Justice to slam its saber against Athrun's shield. "YOU KILLED HER, ATHRUN!"_

"You took her from me," he hissed, twisting around and wrapping himself in the covers. "You took her _away from me_..."

_"Kira!" Athrun exclaimed. "You don't understand, Kira! I didn't—"_

_"YOU KILLED HER!"_

"Why..." he whispered, sobbing again as more tears drifted around him. "Why did she have to die..."

_The Freedom pressed its attack, firing its railguns and plasma cannons as it tore down towards the Justice. Athrun dove out of the way of the attack and deflected the follow-up saber strike, diving away from the Freedom._

"Why couldn't I protect her..." he murmured. "Why..._why couldn't I protect her?!_"

_"YOU KILLED HER!" Kira screamed as the Freedom charged. "ATHRUN! YOU KILLED HER! YOU—"_

_Then the world went white._

Kira twisted over again and drifted out of bed, his snarled sheets floating around him, surrounded in a cloud of teardrops. He clutched himself tightly, quivering.

"Why...why, _why_, _WHY_?"

He threw back his head and shrieked.

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The door opened with a hiss, and a moment later it closed again. Darkness filled everything, as two figures were veiled in shadow.

"I see you've brought him aboard," a woman's voice observed with something almost like amusement lacing her voice.

Rau Le Creuset sat back, his face unreadable in the darkness. "You know what part you have to play," he said rhetorically.

"And he'll be the one to succeed where GENESIS failed?" the woman asked skeptically. "He's curled up in a sobbing ball of flesh, and he's going to become the ultimate weapon?"

Rau chuckled. "Well, that's where you come in."

The woman sniffed at the air in annoyance. "Playing the helpless maiden is not my forte, _Commander_," she shot back. "I'm not some dainty little princess looking for a knight in shining armor."

"Of course you're not," Rau answered smoothly. "All you have to do is make him think you are. He's fixated on the idea of protecting people. Make him think you're the damsel in distress and he'll be all ours."

The woman sighed in defeat. "He's not my type," she protested. "I'm not even looking for someone, but if I was, it sure wouldn't be some bucket of angst like him."

Rau was still amused. "You act as if you're supposed to be attracted to him. Just get him attracted to you." He paused. "It shouldn't be hard. He's only sixteen. Flash some skin and he's all yours."

The woman huffed indignantly. "I'm not a dumb little bimbo, _Commander,_" she snapped. "I'll only go that far if there's no other choice."

Rau chuckled again. "I bet," he answered chidingly. "But I _am_ serious when I say that you must have him eating out of the palm of your hand. He is powerful, but only with purpose."

"And there's that pesky problem of his with killing," the woman added. Rau nodded with an irritated sigh.

"Well, once we've got him far enough under our control, I think we can work around that. We've been dealt some valuable cards. I intend on using them."

The woman paused. "I suppose I should go pay our little friend a visit, then." With a sigh, she stood up and moved for the door.

"Valentine," Rau said. She stopped and looked back at him. "Remember."

The door opened, and Valentine's partially shadowed face twisted into a sweetly sadistic smile.

"Of course," she replied. "Eating out of the palm of my hand."

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There was a noise that sounded like a door opening, and Kira's bloodshot eyes turned towards it— and immediately squinted as light washed over everything. A voice was speaking, but he could hardly hear it, and it was coming from someone he could hardly see. The door shut, and a moment later, Kira felt hands on his shoulders, gently guiding him back onto the bed. At last, his eyes adjusted, and he looked up at the person who had entered his room.

The first thing he noticed was a red ZAFT uniform. He looked up at this mysterious soldier's face, and found a gentle, calm, attractive woman's face. Crimson eyes gazed at him from between three conspicuously red-dyed locks of hair, and her smiling face was framed in attractive chestnut tresses.

She was beautiful. She was as beautiful as Fllay.

More tears sprang to his eyes, as sickness ripped through him from the pit of his stomach.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, her smile fading, replaced by concern. "Commander Le Creuset is busy at the moment, but he sent me to make sure you're fit for your introductions."

Kira opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was another choking sob. The woman pulled him closer, stroking his shoulders soothingly, before another fit of hysteria overtook him.

"Don't worry," she whispered in his ear, "I'm here. I'll protect you."

Kira's eyes widened.

"_I'll protect you,_" Fllay told him, "_with my true feelings..._"

"Y-You..." he began helplessly. The woman pulled away and smiled at him, with her hands still on his shoulders.

"I'm Valentine," she answered. "Valentine Sunogachi."

Kira heard the words, but they did not register. He saw Fllay instead, her hands on his shoulders affectionately, smiling lovingly at him, promising him that everything would be alright.

"F-Fllay," he stammered, his entire body going numb as horror and joy clashed within him. "Y-You're..."

She rubbed his shoulders and pulled him closer. "Don't cry," she said, "I'm here to help you."

At last, Kira fell backwards, out of her arms, and looked at her. She was not Fllay. Not quite.

"Is Fllay someone important?" Valentine asked gently, taking his hands to catch his attention again. Kira looked down sadly.

"I...couldn't...I couldn't protect her," he murmured.

"What happened?" Valentine asked. Kira flinched under her gaze, and she smiled at him and rubbed his hands affectionately. "Well, if you don't want to—"

"Athrun killed her!" Kira exclaimed suddenly. Valentine blinked in surprise as Kira shook his head violently, tears springing from his eyes again as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Athrun took her away from me!"

"Calm down, Kira," she said, still trying to be gentle but tempering her voice with an edge of firmness lying underneath.

Kira began to breathe heavily, his eyes still clamped shut, and while he was shaking in her arms, Valentine noticed a glint of metal around his neck. Kira's eyes opened wide as she took the ring around his neck in her fingers, brushing her skin delicately against his and making him shiver.

"Is this Fllay's?" she asked kindly. Kira looked down at the object between her fingers.

"N-No," he stammered, feeling sick again as something else clicked in the back of his mind. "It's—"

Images of Lacus Clyne flashed back into Kira's memory, but before he could do anything, Valentine unhooked the chain that held Lacus's ring.

"I'll hang onto this for you," she said with a hint of authority in her voice. Kira reached towards her hand, sputtering in protest, but Valentine cut him off, putting a slender finger against his lips before he could speak. "You're going to have your belongings confiscated anyways," she added. "If I keep it, then you'll get it back sooner."

Kira looked back at her hand in defeat.

"Did you promise Fllay you would protect her?" she went on. Kira looked away in shame.

"That's...what I wanted to do," he answered, even more tears coming to his eyes. "As long as I have the power to do it...but..." He closed his eyes, stifling another sob. "I failed."

"It's not your fault," Valentine said sweetly, tilting his chin up to look into his eyes. "It was Athrun's fault."

Kira blinked. "Athrun..."

"Yes, Athrun. He fired the shot, didn't he?" Her hand moved onto his cheek. "You even said so yourself. It was Athrun."

"I-It was," Kira stuttered, "but—"

"Then that's all you need to know." She put her other hand on his other cheek, gazing into his eyes and making Kira's mouth go dry. "Athrun killed her. Athrun betrayed you."

Kira struggled for words. "Valentine..." he started, his voice cracking.

"Athrun betrayed us all," she went on. "The Clyne Faction might have ranted and raved about how the great ZAFT hero Athrun Zala had 'seen the light,' but when it comes down to it, he and Lacus betrayed us. There's nothing noble about that."

Kira blinked in surprise, looking back into her eyes. "We had good intentions," he began.

"Of course you did," Valentine interrupted, smiling sweetly. "All I'm saying is that Athrun betrayed us too. We know how you feel." She let go of Kira and got back to her feet. "In any case," she continued, "we have other things to talk about."

Kira looked up at her, blinking again. "What?"

"You came here looking for the power to protect the people you care about, right?" she asked. Kira nodded. "Commander Le Creuset and I can give you that power. We will remake the world, a world where you no longer have to protect anyone."

Kira suddenly began to feel invigorated as she went on.

"We'll make a world where wars will disappear," she said, "a world where weapons are unnecessary. You won't have to suffer or fight anymore—but we have to fight to make that world. We have to wear the uniforms of ZAFT soldiers, but we will use ZAFT as we need to, and create a new era." Valentine put her hands on Kira's shoulders. "And you won't have to protect anyone any longer."

"Valentine," Kira murmured, his eyes wide.

"I promise," Valentine said, her face coming close to Kira's, "I won't let you suffer anymore."

Kira squirmed uncomfortably, and Valentine took a step back, letting go of his shoulders.

"You need to get yourself cleaned up," she said. She gave him another smile, turning to leave. "I'll be by later to get you ready."

The door opened, Valentine glanced back at him with a smile, and she disappeared into the lights of the hallway.

With a hiss, the door shut again, and Kira was left sitting alone in the darkness.

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**Hotel near PLANT Supreme Council building, PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"...take two tablets every four hours, do not exceed more than eight tablets in twenty-four hours."

Councilor Gilbert Dullindal stared disdainfully at the aspirin bottle's label for a moment, then unscrewed the cap and dumped out ten white tablets into his hand.

"Screw the directions," he grunted, swallowing all ten at once with a mouthful of water. Coordinators possessed nigh-invincible immune systems, but heavy workloads and ungodly stress had just as rueful an effect on Coordinators as they did on Naturals, as Gilbert's throbbing head reminded him. Heaving a sigh, he flopped down on the bed and tried to put his shattered brain back in order.

The war had essentially ended yesterday, that much was obvious. The Earth Alliance and ZAFT had fought each other to a standstill at Jachin Due, and then Patrick Zala was killed, GENESIS was destroyed, and scarcely before Gilbert was aware of either such events, Eileen Canaver was in charge and was shrieking orders at him and any other Councilor she could find. As part of the Diplomatic Committee, Gilbert had a front-row seat for the negotiations with the Earth Alliance that were already starting up, and the only reason he was here in this hotel room now was because the Earth Alliance representatives had mercifully decided that maybe everyone would be in a more negotiable mood if they had had a chance to eat and sleep. Gilbert was most certainly not complaining—Canaver had worked the Diplomatic Committee as if the war would restart at any second.

Just as Gilbert was starting to drift off to sleep, of course, Fate kicked in and the phone rang. All of his politesse and restraint were required to keep him from screaming obscene words at the phone, and he heavily stood up, seized the receiver, and snarled what usually sounded like a greeting into it.

"Well, someone's cranky this evening," the voice on the other end chuckled. Gilbert blinked in surprise.

"Rau?" he asked. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just wanted to see how my favorite Councilor is doing," Rau answered with some kind of sadistic playfulness. Gilbert glared at the receiver.

"I have a migraine from hell," he snapped. "Tell me what you want or so help me God, I'll have you shot."  
Rau just chuckled again. "You'll be pleased to know, Councilor," he said, "that our plan is right on schedule."

Gilbert frowned. "You have him?"

"Yes we do. Valentine is sinking her teeth into him as we speak."

Gilbert sat back, his bad mood dissipating slightly— although he had no doubt that the process of Valentine "sinking her teeth into him" was probably about as gruesome as it sounded. "What about the rest of the Three Ships Alliance?"

"They got away," Rau answered. "But a little battlefield chicanery of mine seems to have worked well. He should be firmly on our side in time for," he paused, and Gilbert imagined him smiling deviously, "our little accident."

"What about the Freedom?" Gilbert asked. "He's of no use to us without it."

"I have that taken care of too," Rau replied airily. "It's fine." He paused for a moment. "Ah, looks like Valentine's back from her little introduction. I'll call back again."

The click of the receiver cut Gilbert short, and with a sigh, he hung up. Kira Yamato was now on their turf, in a dangerously weakened state, and all too easy to manipulate...but he was still under Rau's control, and Rau was a wildcard.

Now that the interest was gone, though, Gilbert's head resumed its hurting, and with a groan, he dropped back onto the bed and resolved to get some sleep.

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**_Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, ZAFT space fortress Jachin Due, Lagrange Point 5**

Kira looked down at his hands. Valentine had given him a pair of black leather gloves that she said would complete his look as a boy who looked like a ZAFT soldier but still stood out, but it seemed too strange— and besides, he reflected, gloves were ideal for someone who wanted to remain a mystery. He looked up at himself in the mirror.

A sandwich and a shower had helped return some life to his appearance, but he still felt hollow and defeated. He looked at his red ZAFT uniform—Athrun had said that these went only to the top graduates of the ZAFT Military Academy. Lacus had given him one to sneak him into the Freedom's hangar. Now he was considered one of the elite ZAFT Reds, but he didn't feel any different. The flashy red uniform did not take away the pain or make anything easier to bear. All it did was make him look like a soldier.

And Kira knew all too well that wearing a uniform did not make him a soldier.

The door of what was apparently becoming his room opened, and Valentine appeared with a smile.

"So this is what you look like in a ZAFT uniform," she said, looking him over. "You look good."

Kira blushed and looked back at his reflection. "I feel weird," he said quietly. Valentine took him by the shoulders, turning him around to face her.

"All you have to do is look like a ZAFT soldier," she instructed. "Commander Le Creuset and I will look after you. Just be convincing enough for the rest of the ship's crew."

Kira looked at his hands again. "Am I really a ZAFT soldier now?" he asked. "Am I supposed to protect the PLANTs now?"

Valentine took one of his hands and guided him towards the door. "Don't trouble yourself over that," she said. "Just look like a ZAFT soldier."

As Valentine led him towards Rau's office, Kira looked around, at the tired faces of the green-uniformed crew. Nobody seemed to notice him, and even though they stopped to salute as Valentine passed, their movements were robotic, as if they were not even aware of what they were doing. Kira wondered if this was how real soldiers were supposed to look.

Valentine glanced back at him. "This ship was on the front lines during the fighting," she explained, as if reading his thoughts. "The soldiers here fought for the entire length of the battle against the Alliance fleet."

They reached an elevator and a pair of soldiers moved aside automatically. Once inside, the door closed, and Kira heaved a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Valentine asked. Kira looked at her sadly.

"I can't go back," he said. She arched an eyebrow inquisitively as he continued. "To the Three Ships Alliance, I mean." He looked down at his hands once more. "To Lacus."

Valentine pressed the elevator's stop button, and the elevator promptly came to a halt. Kira blinked in surprise, and blushed as Valentine took his hands and pulled him towards her.

"They betrayed you," she said softly. "Athrun killed Fllay. You thought you had moved past the point where you killed each other and the people you cared about, but you didn't. He killed Fllay. You watched him do it."

Kira's eyes widened. "How do you know—"

"Lacus lied to you," she went on. "She sent you out to fight, as if your interference in the war would change anything or save anyone. She made you think she knew what she was doing, or that she could keep you from suffering. But she didn't—everyone who died in the battle still died, and the war ended on its own, without her help."

"V-Valentine!" Kira exclaimed. Valentine silenced him with a finger against his lips.

"I won't lie to you," she said. "I won't betray you. I won't make you think you can change things that just can't be changed. I won't make you suffer."

One of her hands found its way to the back of his head, and Kira tensed at her touch.

"You can't dwell on what they did to you," she said soothingly. "What they did was wrong, and you have every right to be upset, but you can't let it consume you. You have to be whole, for us, for the sake of your future."

Their lips came tantalizingly close, and Kira shivered.

"I don't want you to think I'm trying to replace anyone," she whispered, "but I want you to be here with me."

"V-Valentine—"

Anything else Kira might have said was lost when Valentine kissed him. Kira's eyes widened at the feeling—she was like Fllay. The way her lips molded against his, the way she melted into his arms, the way she tilted her head to the side...

She pulled away, her eyes glittering, with a smile on her face.

"I'll protect you," she breathed.

She drifted back to the elevator control and restarted the elevator, and all Kira could do was stare.

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Before the office doors opened, Rau knew who was behind them. That distinct pressure was most certainly Valentine...and that swirling whirlpool of emotion could be none other than Kira Yamato.

Sure enough, the doors opened, and there they were. Rau smirked and noted that Valentine held Kira's hand as they entered his office. His previous assessment had been on the mark; she was sinking her teeth into him as far as they would go.

"Commander Le Creuset," she greeted, letting go of Kira's hand and saluting. Rau saluted back, smiling knowingly at her. "As you can see, Mr. Yamato is in somewhat better spirits now."

Rau looked over at Kira, who promptly blinked in surprise, went to attention, and saluted. Rau smiled back, saluting. "At ease, Kira. No need to be so tense."

Kira dropped out of his rigid stance.

"Are you feeling better now, Kira?" Rau asked. Kira nodded after a moment's pause, and Rau rose and approached him. "My apologies, but things will be rather tedious for a while. The war has ended, so matters are out of the hands of us soldiers." He held his hand out, and Kira reluctantly shook it. "Nonetheless, I promised you the power to protect those you care for." He smiled reassuringly at Kira. "We won't let you down."

"T-Thank you," Kira stuttered. Rau returned to his chair.

"Now then," he went on, "to business." He flicked a switch, and on one of the office screens, the familiar scene of a news report appeared. A newscaster droned lifelessly about the negotiations between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs. On the screen, there were video clips of PLANT Councilors shaking hands with Earth Alliance representatives, illuminated by the dazzling lights of flashbulbs. "This, Kira, is the process of making peace. But this is no peace we are watching."

"It's not?" Kira asked, staring hopefully at the screen.

"Peace is nothing permanent, Kira," Rau explained. He looked into Kira's eyes, and in an instant, Kira's blood ran cold. "Humans fight. That natural instinct has survived since our days as apes. We will not stop fighting just because both sides have exhausted each other now."

Kira opened his mouth to protest, but Rau cut him off.

"The Three Ships Alliance will remain an obstacle to our plan," he continued. "They seek to end wars and end killing. They want to stop the end of the cycle of life. They believe storming onto the battlefield, preaching high ideals as they disable military weapons, will stop the soldiers from fighting. It doesn't work that way. If you take away the weapons of two men who are fighting each other out of hatred, then they can no longer fight, but they still hate each other— so when they go and get new weapons, you will just have to take their weapons away again."

"But we—" Kira began.

"The Three Ships Alliance accomplished nothing," Rau said authoritatively. He looked at Kira, and Kira felt his body weaken and his mind go numb. "I'm sorry, Kira. Lacus lied to you. Lacus told you that running around the battlefield with high ideals and high technology would remove the hatred that fuels wars. It did not. Lacus took away the weapons, but the people who wielded the weapons still hate each other. The war ended of its own accord." He looked away, out the window, into space. "The world is not as gentle as her song."

Kira looked away in shame. Rau was right—the Three Ships Alliance's interference in the final battle did not stop the fighting. The fighting stopped when GENESIS was destroyed and the radical leadership of both warring sides was eradicated. Both sides were just too tired to fight...but that didn't, after all, necessarily mean that they wouldn't go back to fighting again once they had gotten new weapons and rested and regained their strength.

"It's impossible to change human nature," Rau went on. He looked back at Kira, and once again Kira's blood froze. "People desire power. Their reasons vary, but it always boils down to desire for power. And they will do whatever it takes to have power." He stood up and began to slowly pace towards Kira. "To them, you, Kira, represent power. And they know that you will not willingly give them that power. So, in order to make you do so, they want to hurt you. But you have power, and are not so easy to hurt. So to hurt you, they must hurt those you care about."

Kira's eyes widened, as Rau's words struck a sickeningly familiar chord deep in his heart.

Rau stopped in front of Kira, gazing steadily at him. "To protect those you care about, to protect your world, you must fight those who seek to harm them. That is what you have been doing all along. But all along, you have been fighting the wrong people, and fighting them the wrong way." Rau returned to his desk and flicked another switch, and the screen changed, now displaying mobs on Earth protesting the Earth Alliance's negotiations. "These people have been whipped by Blue Cosmos into a frenzy. They want to see the PLANTs annihilated in nuclear fire." Another switch, and the screen changed again, showing protestors on the PLANTs demanding the extermination of the Naturals. "And these people still staunchly support Patrick Zala, and want to see the Naturals destroyed before they can ever fire nuclear weapons at the PLANTs again." He threw one final switch, the screen went dark, and Kira looked back at Rau. "The Naturals rightly feel threatened by the advances of the Coordinators, who clearly consider themselves superior. And the Coordinators want the extermination of the Naturals that have caused them so much sorrow and been the root of their troubles." He paused. "Do you see? People still hate each other. And hatred makes the will to fight. And with the will to fight comes the desire for power." Rau set his transfixing gaze back on Kira. "You must fight the people who seek to harm you. And you must kill them."

"I-I can't do that!" Kira protested. Rau looked away.

"Then you cannot protect those you care about," he answered. "The people who wish to harm them will keep coming back unless you kill them. Lives must be taken to make them understand."

Kira looked down in defeat at the floor.

"At any rate," Rau went on, looking down at the computer terminal on his desk, as his hands flew across the keys, "I want to show you something, Kira."

The screen lit up again, and Kira stared up at it. His eyes widened in horror.

"This is—" he began.

Rau smiled darkly. "This is the future."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	2. Phase 02: Wings of Satan

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 02 - Wings of Satan

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**October 4th, CE 71 - Earth Alliance base on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, Sahara Desert, Africa**

It was a mighty armada. Five _Lesseps_-class and fifteen _Petrie_-class land battleships sailed across the desert sands, and each ship's deck was loaded down with armies of waiting mobile suits. More mobile suits charged forward among the sands, and the air was filled with ZAFT fighters and helicopters and even more mobile suits. And standing on the deck of this massive army's flagship was the Freedom Gundam, staring forward impassively, waiting.

Arrayed two miles before the ZAFT force was an enormous Earth Alliance base. The Alliance troops had entrenched themselves in the rock on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, and had created a fortress bristling with guns and packed with military hardware of their own.

Kira Yamato stared forward apprehensively at the waiting enemy through the eyes of the Freedom. He was in command of this army—his job was to capture this base, the final stronghold of the Earth Alliance in the PLANT-allied African Community, and pave the way to a lightly-defended Alliance naval base, whose destruction would completely remove the Alliance from ZAFT's terrestrial African ally. Behind him, he had hundreds of mobile suits and thousands of ZAFT soldiers and crew—before him, he had hundreds of mobile suits and thousands of Alliance soldiers and crew. He would lead his men as the generals of old did—riding at the head of the battle, in shining armor, plunging headfirst into the same inferno as his soldiers. And before him, the Alliance troops were hunkered down, patiently waiting for the ZAFT forces to enter their range.

Kira looked back, at his soldiers. The mobile suits themselves were perfect warriors—their faces betrayed no fear, only a steadfast determination to reach the battlefield. The soldiers inside were battle-hardened veterans who knew no fear, and knew instead how to fight and win.

Unfortunately, he thought as he looked back at the enemy, the enemy was just as battle-hardened and fearless.

All further rumination was cut off as the Alliance's artillery opened fire. The shots splashed down into the sand in front of the charging army. Kira narrowed his eyes—the Alliance troops weren't aiming to hit. Sure enough, another salvo thundered forward, and this time the flying shells took down several BuCUEs and ZuOOTs.

The army pressed on undeterred, and Kira sucked up his breath. It was now or never.

"All troops," he called. Before him, the Alliance forces fired off yet another salvo, and missiles came swarming in. The attack was beginning.

The _Lesseps_ the Freedom was riding on quaked under a missile hit. Kira furrowed his brow.

"Charge!"

The word had barely left his lips before everything started going to hell.

The Alliance troops before him opened fire with a salvo the likes of which Kira had never seen. Hundreds of canisters slammed down in front of the charging mobile suits, and as Kira realized too late what was going on, a pall of smoke rose over the battlefield, obscuring everything. Kira opened his mouth, hoping to order his men to open fire before it was too late, but a volley of beam fire and missiles slammed head-on into the ZAFT units.

Kira watched in horror as a hundred pilots died simultaneously.

"Commander Yamato!" someone shouted, through the roar of battle. "What are your orders?"

Kira took a breath and steeled himself.

"All mobile suits advance at full speed!" he shouted.

The Freedom took off with a blast.

For a few moments, there was nothing but smoke, but then the smoke parted and Kira could see before him the enemy base, guns blazing. He cut down a handful of missiles with a burst of CIWS fire and stormed through the smoke towards the base.

Down below, the Alliance's Strike Daggers opened fire on the charging Gundam with their beam rifles, and Kira sent the Freedom diving towards the sand. He returned fire as the Freedom twisted through a maze of beams, aiming for the Daggers' heads.

Kira gasped in surprise as the Daggers expertly deflected the Freedom's shots with their shields. They turned their firepower on an approaching squad of BuCUEs, and a moment later there were five more dead ZAFT pilots.

_That wouldn't have happened if..._

A sinking feeling of realization hit Kira, as a powerful artillery shell simultaneously hit the Freedom, knocking it out of the air. Kira shook his head and opened fire with a full burst from the Freedom's weapons, aiming again for arms and legs and heads—

And the Strike Daggers dove out of the way, letting the Freedom's shots fly by harmlessly. Kira fired again, but again the Strike Daggers dodged, and their combined firepower brought down another ZAFT mobile suit squad in a fiery blaze.

_They...they'll keep killing...unless..._

Kira squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't! Those Alliance pilots had families of their own! They were fighting on the wrong side, they were killing, but for that they didn't deserve to die!

The Freedom was rocked again as more missiles came down around it, and Kira hunkered down behind the Freedom's shield. The Daggers returned their attention to him, pouring beam rifle fire onto his shield, and Kira leapt up into the air, desperately dodging their shots.

An errant missile plowed into the Freedom's face, sending the Gundam plummeting towards the ground, and Kira screamed.

There was a seed, and suddenly, everything was clear.

A squad of GINNs was charging towards the Strike Daggers, machineguns blazing, and the Daggers took up their beam rifles to return fire. The Freedom slashed down into their ranks with a storm of beam fire, ripping the Daggers' guns and arms off. The Freedom charged forward towards the base, dodging missile emplacements and spewing weapons fire into the Alliance lines, blowing away mobile suit heads and arms and legs.

"No more of this!" Kira screamed.

The Freedom drew its beam saber and charged again, disarming a pair of Strike Daggers as he stormed towards the base. Gunfire rose to meet him, but the ZAFT forces were right behind him, breaking through the hole the Freedom had torn in the enemy lines, and the battle turned into the insanity of a no-holds-barred mobile suit brawl. Kira himself continued into the base, slicing apart any enemy that rose to oppose him.

A pair of Strike Daggers were standing near a closed-off mobile suit hangar, beam rifles blazing. Kira let out a yell and charged, boosting between them and slashing both their arms off, flying towards the hangar—

And a moment later, a massive red blast slashed across the Freedom's path. Kira slammed on the brakes, and the Freedom lurched backwards. An alarm sounded, and Kira threw the Freedom's shield up to deflect a beam rifle shot—and barely had he done that when a blue claw came flying at him, and only a timely duck saved him. The Freedom landed with a crash, and Kira looked around for his attackers.

"What the...is that the Strike?!"

Standing before him were three Strike Gundams, all three sporting one of the Strike's distinctive Striker packs. Kira stared with an edge of apprehension at them. The Launcher Strike raised its cannon and fired, and Kira leapt up into the air, letting its shot tear by beneath his feet—but instantly the Aile Strike was upon him with its beam rifle. Jetting to the side, Kira was suddenly under attack from the Sword Strike, slamming its anti-ship sword against the Freedom's shield. The Freedom went staggering back, and a moment later the Aile Strike charged into Kira's face with its beam saber, forcing it back even further.

"Dammit!" Kira shouted. "They're too fast!"

The Launcher Strike opened fire, and Kira dove to the side, only to have the Sword Strike come down on him with its sword. Barely deflecting the blow with the Freedom's shield, Kira saw out of the corner of his eye as the Aile Strike took aim with its beam rifle. His eyes widened—

With a yell, the Freedom leapt up and kicked the Sword Strike in the face, knocking it away. Without a moment to spare, the Freedom smacked away the Aile Strike's beam shot with its beam saber, and boosted upwards to dodge the Launcher Strike's shot. A blast from the Freedom's weapons created a cloud of smoke around the Launcher Strike—

And with a single beam saber stroke, the Launcher Strike's left arm and cannon went spiraling away. A powerful kick to the right arm crushed the weapons pod, and with one last kick to the face, the Freedom sent the disarmed Launcher Strike sprawling into the dust.

The Sword and Aile Strikes charged, and Kira leapt above them. He dove down into the Sword Strike's face, kicking the anti-ship sword out of its grasp. With a powerful overhead saber slash, he cut off the Sword Strike's left arm at the shoulder and left leg at the knee, and the damaged mobile suit collapsed to the ground.

Beam shots flashed around the Freedom, and Kira deflected them with the shield. The Aile Strike charged in with its beam saber drawn, and slammed it against the Freedom's shield. Kira grunted as the Freedom rattled, and saw an opening—he swung the Aile Strike's saber aside with the Freedom's shield, and impaled the Aile Strike's head on the Freedom's saber. A kick to the chest sent the headless Strike stumbling away, and a plasma cannon volley blew off the Strike's arms and Aile Striker. The helpless mobile suit collapsed forwards, and Kira let out a sigh of relief.

"Commander Yamato!" a voice cried. Kira glanced to his left, finding the panicked face of a ZAFT officer. "We have to retreat! We can't sustain anymore casualties!"

"What?!" Kira exclaimed. Casualties? But he had just—

The Freedom took off, and Kira gasped in horror. The Alliance forces had charged forward while he had been fighting the Strikes, and Kira immediately recognized many of the attacking Strike Daggers as ones he had disabled—they lacked guns or arms or heads, but charged forward anyways with beam sabers or fallen comrades' weapons. Kira stared in disbelief as the soldiers he thought he had taken out of the fight dove back into it.

"Commander Yamato!" the officer shouted. "You can't stay there! We're pulling back!"

Kira swallowed a lump in his throat and the Freedom took off for the leading _Lesseps_ as it pulled back. In a flash, he landed on the deck and demanded a report on the situation.

"The Alliance forces counterattacked!" the officer exclaimed hastily. "They let most of our mobile suits pass right by and brought the fight to—" He was cut off by a scream, and Kira's eyes widened as a Strike Dagger missing its right arm—a Strike Dagger Kira had disabled—landed in front of the _Lesseps_' bridge and slashed it out with a beam saber.

Kira stared at the Dagger, shocked. He had disabled it. He had taken it out of the battle. But it had returned, and now those ZAFT troops on the bridge of that ship were dead, because Kira had not killed the pilot of that Dagger.

An alarm went off, and Kira turned. He gasped in astonishment as he found the damaged Sword Strike charging at him with its anti-ship sword drawn and held in front of it. He tried to move, but shock had paralyzed him, and all he could do was stare.

The anti-ship sword plunged into the Freedom's chest, and everything went black.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 4th, CE 71 - _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras,_ Lagrange Point 5**

Captain Cummings was not a man given to the flashy drama of a mobile suit battle—he was a straight-laced student of tactics, whose favorite weapons were the ones that got the job done, not the ones that looked the prettiest doing it. As a result, he had been rather annoyed with the shiny, sparkly new units that some of the soldiers had called "Gundams." Mobile suits in general had annoyed him as well, but they had also chewed through the Earth Alliance's Mobiuses like wet tissue paper, and _that_ was hard to argue with.

Captain Cummings nevertheless found himself supremely annoyed as his excited bridge crew, for lack of anything else to do, chattered on about the mobile suit simulator battle they had just witnessed.

Unfortunately, the _Pythagoras_ had another seventeen hours of waiting ahead of it, hanging in space, doing absolutely nothing, because someone in the docking bay control room had snarled the docking order into something confusing and frightening and left several dozen ships hanging in space doing absolutely nothing for the better part of a week. So, one of many victims of an administrative mess, Captain Cummings had decided to watch the simulator match anyways as his ship waited in the far-flung territories of space outside Jachin Due.

They had seen the Freedom lead a powerful ZAFT army against an Earth Alliance base in Africa. It had awed them all with its consummate skill—it killed not a single soldier as it stormed across the battlefield, aiming instead for its enemies' armaments and main cameras, and disarming its foes with incredulous precision. It had gone up against three -X105 Strikes, armed with all the combat data ZAFT had collected on the Strike to date. Three Strikes, all armed with the weapons packs that had made the Strike so versatile, working together to play off each other's strengths and cover each other's weaknesses. It had been a team that would've taken down almost any other pilot, but the Freedom had defeated them all handily.

But it had still failed.

The men were starting to figure out why, but Cummings already knew. The Freedom hadn't killed a single soldier—and that was why it had failed. It had assumed that disabling and disarming mobile suits would remove from their pilots the will to fight—and this had only been a simulation. In real combat, pilots of mobile suits so quickly and easily disabled would be humiliated, and some of them would renew the battle any way they could.

Cummings sat back and wondered if this new pilot was really worth the trouble after all.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The lights came back on, and Kira Yamato gasped for breath. It had just been a simulator—why was he like this?

He staggered out of the mobile suit simulator and looked around. The ZAFT soldiers in the room were staring in surprise at him.

"Do you understand why you failed?" a voice asked him. Kira looked over, and found Valentine standing there, her arms crossed, her face neutral.

Kira looked away in shame. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't bring himself to say the words.

Valentine cast a glance around the room, and the soldiers milling about began to disperse. She approached and uncrossed her arms, putting her hands on Kira's shoulders.

"You can't just disable mobile suits anymore," she said, gently and sternly at the same time. "You have to start killing your enemies."

"I can't do that!" Kira protested, looking up at her, not caring that there were tears forming in his eyes. "I can't run around the battlefield and kill people! You're asking too much of me!"

"Kira, you saw it yourself," she responded. "Those mobile suits you disabled came back and attacked your allies. That Strike came back and attacked you after you had disabled it. People don't lose the will to fight just because you disabled their machines. Taking away the weapon doesn't take away the hatred that makes you use it." She tilted his face up to look into his eyes. "You can't protect anything like this."

Kira opened his mouth to speak again, but again couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"You've done it before," she said. "You did it to protect the Legged Ship."

"But I—" Kira began. Valentine silenced him with a glare.

"You can't protect anyone if you refuse to kill," she said firmly. "You're strong, Kira, but you have to start using your strength."

She stood up and walked away, leaving Kira sitting alone on the edge of the simulator.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"You have an interesting way of getting Kira to see things differently," Rau commented in his darkened office. He gazed through the shadows at Valentine, seated not far away. "Of course, you realize that in actual combat, most pilots would be too put off by the Freedom's precision to go fight again after he disarmed them?"

Valentine smiled back. "Well, Kira doesn't need to know that, and he's not swift enough to figure it out even if he wanted to anyways," she said coolly. "Besides, doctoring that Strike data was fun. And I'm sure the crew didn't mind either."

Rau eyed her carefully. "You're having entirely too much fun with this," he observed with a smirk. "Who would've guessed you'd turn out to be such a sadistic little thing?"

"Of course I'm having fun with this," Valentine said, grinning. "He's clay in my hands. Given enough time, I could turn him into _anything_."

"Isn't that the point?"

"Of course it is."

Rau chuckled. "I thought you were annoyed with that, oh, how did you put it? 'Bucket of angst,' I believe you called him."

Valentine shot him a look. "I changed my mind," she said tartly. "He'll be more than adequate for our needs."

"Well, we wouldn't want you going too far too fast," Rau answered with a smile. "He's been receptive so far, but we don't want to push it."

Valentine glared back at him. "And here _I_ thought it was time to up the ante."

Rau cocked his head to the side quizzically. "Up the ante?" he echoed. "Aren't you taking this all a bit too quickly? We don't want him breaking on us and running back to Lacus Clyne."

"I know how far I can push my luck," Valentine answered with a self-assured smile. "Provided _your_ end of this little scheme works out the way it's supposed to, this should get all our plans moving nicely." She allowed herself a half-sweet, half-sadistic giggle. "Call it a necessary risk."

Rau was not amused. "And what, pray tell, is this risk you think is so necessary?"

Valentine stood, still smiling. "I can't go giving away the big surprise, now can I?" she asked chidingly. "You worry too much, Commander. I know what I'm doing."

"One can hope," Rau sighed dismissively. "I'll just have to trust you won't screw up whatever it is you're going to do."

Valentine grinned victoriously and opened the door. "Then I guess it's time to go raise the stakes."

She left without another sound, and the door closed behind her. Rau sat back, ensconced in the darkness, alone with his thoughts.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The bridge doors opened, and Kira felt a burst of cold air in his face. Someone had announced over the shipboard intercom that he was supposed to report to the bridge, but no one had told him why. Resigned to fate, he found himself on the bridge now. The captain's chair was turned away, the captain himself staring out the bridge windows.

"So," the captain spoke, his chair turning enough for Kira to see his face in profile, "you're the new pilot."

Kira went to attention and saluted before he realized what he was doing. At this point it was a habit.

Captain Cummings rose from his seat, turning around to face Kira, and saluted back slowly.

"I watched your simulator match earlier today," the captain continued, staring steadily at Kira and putting his hands behind his back. Under his unrelenting gaze, Kira felt uneasy. "I've been meaning to question you as to what I saw there."

Kira opened his mouth to speak, but the words never came out. Cummings continued to stare at him.

"Your skill and precision against enemy mobile suits, even if they were only simulated, is uncanny," Cummings went on. "You attacked and disabled thirty-four mobile suits in three minutes. You also defeated three -X105 Strike units, specifically programmed to cover each other's weaknesses." He paused, and Kira sensed the words that came next. "And yet you were still destroyed. Why?"

Kira tried to speak again, but once again the words did not come.

"You only disabled them," Cummings finished authoritatively. "You didn't kill anyone."

"I shouldn't kill people if I have the power to," Kira spoke at last. Cummings stared inquisitively at him.

"Then why are you a soldier?" he asked.

Kira's eyes fell.

"A soldier's job is to kill those who threaten his home and his people," Cummings continued, his stance bringing him a firm gaze down over Kira. "You would be a powerful force on the battlefield, truly capable of protecting the PLANTs and doing your job as a soldier, if you would actually kill your enemies. That is a soldier's purpose."

"I don't want to be just a weapon," Kira protested, looking back up at the captain. Cummings' face did not change.

"Of course not," he answered. "But as long as you're here, your job is to fight and kill. You can't protect anything if you refuse to kill anyone."

Kira looked away, unable to answer. "I don't want to be a monster," he said quietly.

"No one wants to," Cummings answered. He took a couple of steps closer to Kira. "Patrick Zala wanted to protect us all, but he went too far and became a monster himself. But I am not a monster. Neither are you. No one aboard this ship is a monster. We are all simply doing what we believe is right—how can you be monstrous for doing that?"

Kira looked at the floor. Cummings was right.

The captain returned to his chair. "I understand you defected from the Three Ships Alliance," he said.

"Yes sir," Kira answered sullenly. He knew where this was headed.

"I can hear Lacus Clyne speaking through you," Cummings observed. "It's not healthy for a soldier to be fighting her way." He sank back into his chair. "Even if you don't wish to kill in battle, others will, and either way you will be surrounded by death. Miss Clyne is a kind and gentle person, but she expects too much out of the world."

Kira opened his mouth to protest, but caught himself before the words could come out. Cummings arched an eyebrow at him.

"It will take time," he said, "but you won't be so naive forever."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 5th, CE 71 - ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, Lagrange Point 5**

"FAITH?"

The term bounced around through Rau's mind. FAITH had been Patrick Zala's attack dog corps during the war, a secret detachment set above the normal rules and regulations of ZAFT that could essentially do whatever the Chairman wanted them to do. Rau himself had been considered for it, but Patrick had died before the shiny badge ever found its way onto Rau's uniform—and the last thing Eileen Canaver would be doing was making FAITH appointments. Now, however, talking over a cell phone with Gilbert Dullindal, the term and all its connotations filled Rau's mind with glee.

The glee disappeared when Rau remembered that Gilbert Dullindal was not the Supreme Chairman. For a moment, he wondered if Gilbert also remembered that he was not the Supreme Chairman.

"FAITH," Gilbert repeated, his voice broken a moment by static. "I'm just a Councilor but I think I can make it happen."

"Only the Chairman can appoint people to FAITH," Rau pointed out carefully, trying to ascertain the ways this idea could backfire. Every avenue of disaster led to two more—this was insane. "You may be friends with the right people in the Defense Council, but they can legally do only as much as you can, as far as FAITH is concerned."

"Legally," Gilbert said. "Of course, you've done plenty of things already that are of, ahem, dubious legality."

The N-Jammer Canceller immediately came to mind. Rau snorted dismissively. "That was a different situation. I had Patrick Zala above me, and he was more than willing to untie the leash. Canaver is not so trusting. We have to be more careful with her—she doesn't trust me, and it probably won't take long for her to stop trusting you too."

"Again, I can still make it happen," Gilbert continued. "And I will. Our plans will be hampered severely if you're stuck in Canaver's plans for ZAFT. She wants to downsize the whole thing as a goodwill gesture to the Naturals. You might be in the crosshairs of that, and if you get discharged, our plans will run into some considerable problems."

"She knows better than that," Rau said. "I'm a war hero. The people adore me. She wouldn't dare touch me—it would be political suicide, and she needs all the support she can get right now. There are still people in the streets howling for the Naturals' blood. Discharging me would galvanize them."

Gilbert was silent. Rau ran the idea through his head—FAITH meant he could get his way with anyone, ordering people around on the basis of "the Chairman's instructions." And if all went as planned, in a few months he technically _wouldn't _be lying in saying that he had the Chairman's authorization.

If all went as planned, of course.

"Be careful about it," Rau warned. "You're taking a big risk here."

"I know," Gilbert said. "But Canaver still trusts me. I'll not pass up an opportunity like that."

Gilbert hung up, and Rau sighed, closing his cell phone. He stared at the phone for a moment, lost in thought. FAITH was a symbol of the elite, of someone special.

A smile spread over his face.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Standing in front of the mirror, Kira still found himself unable to fathom the sight of himself in his red ZAFT uniform.

Athrun had said it went to the top graduates, but Kira had graduated from nothing. Athrun had said it was worn by the best, by the elite, by those who were above everyone else. Tears stung his eyes as he remembered the artificial wombs in the Mendel colony. He was above everyone, but he didn't want to be.

His ruminations were cut off by the wail of the alarms; Kira knew all too well what an alarm was, and looked around in a panic, trying to figure out what was going on.

"All hands, Condition Red is issued," Captain Cummings' familiar voice announced over the intercom. "Hostile forces detected en route for the ship. All pilots stand by in your units."

Memories of the _Archangel_ came flooding back; Kira fell to his knees, squeezing out the tears and trying to squeeze out the pain. He saw Fllay again; he saw himself fighting with Sai again; he saw Major La Fllaga, Captain Ramius, Lieutenant Badguriel...the faces, the names, the emotions came back in a rush.

"Kira!" a voice shouted, breaking him out of his thoughts. Before he knew it, he found Valentine pulling him to his feet, shaking him brusquely. "Snap out of it! We're supposed to be launching!"

"W-What's going on?" he stammered as Valentine let him go.

"Blue Cosmos sympathizers got hold of an Earth Alliance battleship squadron and some mobile suits, and they're coming this way! We need the Freedom out there!" Valentine said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of his room. "This is your chance to protect people, Kira; you said you wanted to protect us, didn't you?!"

"Y-Yeah," he started, "but—"

"But nothing!" she interrupted, turning to glare at him; Kira felt his blood run cold under her merciless gaze. "You said you wanted the power to protect your world! The Commander told you how you could truly protect your world; you have to go out there and wipe out those Blue Cosmos bastards to protect us! The Freedom is the power you have to do it; now get out there and do it!"

Kira felt a chill wash over him as he stared into Valentine's glittering, determined eyes; Fllay had had those eyes.

"If you won't fight, then I will," Valentine said, turning and storming down the hallway.

Kira watched her go helplessly. A strange, sick feeling took hold in the depths of his heart; he hesitantly started after her. He couldn't let her fight; he had to protect her.

He had to protect her, like he had to protect Fllay.

The pain welled back up inside him; he struggled to force it back down, and rushed to the _Pythagoras_'s mobile suit hangar.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Rau smiled darkly as Valentine, decked out in her ZAFT Red flight suit, as she drifted up to the Providence's cockpit hatch.

"I think I understand your big surprise," he said with a chuckle. "Still, leaking intelligence to Blue Cosmos seems a bit beyond your forte."

"I'm not just a little girl, Commander," Valentine shot back with a sardonic smile. "But you have to stay out of this, or else it won't work."

"What are you trying to do?" Rau asked, his smile fading. He already had an idea, of course, but it never hurt to double-check.

A hint of a shadow grew over Valentine's face as she inclined her head just slightly. "Well, that's another big surprise," she said.

Rau smiled back. "Consider me out, then," he answered. "I trust this plan of yours will work."

Valentine pushed off from the Providence's hatch, and Rau closed it, still smiling. He had Valentine all figured out; and more importantly, this would be a vastly more interesting sortie than he thought it would be.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kira emerged from the _Pythagoras_'s ready room in his red ZAFT flight suit; he remembered it from the suit Lacus had given him when he had stolen the Freedom in the first place. Now he was in the red of a ZAFT ace again, but in vastly different circumstances.

Kira looked up, and his eyes fell upon a GuAIZ, on whose cockpit hatch Valentine was standing with a mechanic, painted in the most terrifying colors he had ever seen. The GuAIZ was painted black, with random-looking, thin, jagged streaks of white over its armor; a painfully schizophrenic color scheme that ignored vents and hatches as bolts of virginal white tore over fields of sinister black.

Kira ripped his gaze away from the terrifying mobile suit and looked over at his own dull-gray, deactive Freedom. He made his way to the hatch and slipped into the cockpit, unnoticed, and closed the hatch before anyone else could bother him.

The _Pythagoras_'s hangar was packed with mobile suits, mostly refugees from other ships; the hangar personnel evacuated to safety as the hangar doors opened, and far in the distance, Kira could see three Earth Alliance _Nelson_-class battleships and dozens of Strike Daggers approaching.

The mobile suits, mostly GINNs with a handful of GuAIZs and CGUEs, launched one by one; at last, Valentine's intimidating GuAIZ launched out of the catapult. The deactive Providence glanced at the Freedom.

"Kira," Rau said authoritatively, his face appearing on Kira's screen, "you launch ahead of me and take the lead in the mobile suit teams. I'll hang back here by the ships and mop up whatever you miss."

"Y-Yes sir," Kira stammered. The Freedom stepped into position on the catapult.

Kira felt his heart sink as the linear catapult activated, flashing green.

"Kira Yamato," he began, feeling a lump rise in his throat, "Freedom...going out!"

The catapult fired; the Freedom launched.

Rau watched the Freedom speed into the distance, and smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

By the time Kira had reached the front of the mobile suit squadron, the Blue Cosmos renegades had already attacked. Kira's ears were already filled with the angry demands of ZAFT officers, and the insistent pleading of Earth Alliance officials that these forces were strictly renegades, in no way affiliated with the Alliance. Kira ignored it all; whoever they were, he had to protect the ship. He had to protect Valentine.

He could not fail again.

Images of the mobile suit simulator flashed back into his mind; he saw the Strike plunge its anti-ship sword into the Freedom's chest; he saw the Strike Daggers, all missing heads and arms and legs, still cut down the advancing ZAFT troops. "_You can't protect anything like this_," Valentine told him gently.

The Freedom moved possessively in front of Valentine's GuAIZ; Kira felt himself tense as her face appeared on the screen.

"Kira," she said softly, "you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Kira backed away, feeling as though he had offended her; he fixed his attention straight ahead at the Blue Cosmos renegades.

Arming the beam rifle, he swore not to let them do to Valentine what Athrun had done to Fllay.

The Strike Daggers opened fire; Kira watched a Dagger twist towards him, beam rifle raised; the Dagger's shots bounced off the Freedom's shield, and Kira aimed his beam rifle at the Dagger.

He couldn't pull the trigger.

_He'll die!_ Kira heard himself protest. _He may be wrong but that doesn't mean he should die!_

"_The people who wish to harm them will keep coming back unless you kill them,_" Rau reminded him sternly.

_I don't want to be a monster!_

The Strike Dagger was struck down by another beam shot, and Valentine's GuAIZ dropped in next to him.

"What's wrong, Kira?!" she asked urgently. "Didn't you come out here to fight?"

Kira managed to nod mutely, feeling disconnected from his body.

"Then fight!" Valentine's face disappeared, and her GuAIZ took off into the battle. He watched dumbly as her GuAIZ ducked under a Dagger's wild saber swing; a moment later, the GuAIZ's extensional arrestors tore into the Dagger's cockpit; Kira didn't want to think of what that did to the pilot. The explosion of blood bursting out of the Dagger's shredded cockpit was all he needed to see.

Beam shots flashed around him, and Kira backed away, hiding behind his shield as more Daggers came storming in, backed up by one of the battleships. The ZAFT mobile suits began to fall one by one as the battleship's blazing guns supported the Daggers; Kira continued to back away behind his shield. To his right, he saw Valentine try to attack the ship, but she was pelted by machinegun fire and forced back. The Daggers swarmed over her, and she gunned the booster to escape. Kira's eyes widened as another machinegun round knocked her shield arm aside, and a Dagger swept in for the kill.

An instant later, the Freedom was there to deflect its rifle shot.

"Kira!" Valentine exclaimed.

In the cockpit, Kira wasn't listening; he gasped for breath, hunched over the Freedom's controls.

"_YOU KILLED NICOL!_" Athrun's voice screamed, rippling with hatred.

He saw everything again; the Aegis and the Strike battled in the Marshall Islands, dueling to the death.

"_Just because you're a Coordinator,_" snarled Fllay's voice, her words twisted with malice.

The battleship with Fllay's father onboard exploded into a blazing fireball.

"_You are the only child that was successfully created by it!_" Rau's voice cackled with sadistic glee. "_You are his son, and exist thanks to the countless sacrifices of your siblings!_"

The Freedom dove into the Battle of Alaska to protect the _Archangel_.

"_Attacking won't soothe the hurt!_" Lacus's voice cried.

Heliopolis broke apart; the four GAT-X Gundams stolen by ZAFT escaped.

"_Of course I don't know!_" Rau's voice laughed again. "_Humans only know what they think they know!_"

The Strike Gundam's Armor Schneider went plunging into the armor of the LaGOWE.

"_Kira!_" Athrun exclaimed again. "_I was aiming for Rau, but—_"

The _Dominion_'s escape shuttle exploded.

"_It's not your fault,_" Valentine's voice reminded him. "_It's Athrun's fault._"

Kira threw back his head and screamed.

The seed burst in his mind's eye; he looked up and saw the Justice Gundam floating before him, beam rifle upraised.

"_ATHRUN!_" Kira shrieked, his eyes blazing. The Freedom's wings snapped open; the Freedom took off, drawing its beam saber. The Justice backed away, firing its beam rifle; snarling in fury, Kira twisted around the shots and stormed towards the Justice, slamming his saber against its shield. "_ATHRUN! I'LL KILL YOU!_"

Off to the side, Kira saw the Buster Gundam combine its rifles and fire at him; he spiraled out of the shot's path, and a moment later saw the M1 Astrays of the Three Ships Alliance charging at him, with the Strike Gundam and the Strike Rouge at the lead; the _Kusanagi_, _Eternal_, and _Archangel_ hung back, firing at him.

Kira screamed in rage and charged at the Three Ships Alliance.

The M1s opened fire; shrieking in fury, Kira slithered between their shots and fired a full burst, slamming into five of the M1s and wiping them out. He dove away from more beam rifle fire and picked off another M1 with his own rifle; he drew his saber again and slashed two more M1s in half. The Buster fired its missiles at the Freedom; Kira cut them down with a CIWS burst and screamed in anger; the Strikes and the Justice opened fire on the Freedom, but Kira dodged their fire, zeroing in on the Buster as it desperately tried to combine its guns and fire—

"_I'LL KILL YOU ALL!_"

The Freedom's saber plunged into the Buster's torso. Kira kicked the Buster away, and it exploded; Kira charged towards the Strikes next.

"_I'LL KILL ALL YOU TRAITORS!_"

The Strikes backed away, diving apart as Kira split their ranks with a beam saber slash. The M1s opened fire as well; Kira cut down another squad with another full burst.

The Strikes fired again; Kira slapped their shots away with his saber, and shrieked again as he charged. The Strikes pulled back, and Kira fired the Freedom's plasma cannons; an M1 Astray was there to take the blasts for the Strike Rouge.

Blasts and missiles from the ships poured in; Kira turned his dull, feral eyes on the _Kusanagi_. He screamed in rage and charged towards it. The Gottfrieds fired; Kira rolled out of their way and sliced the dorsal cannon in half. As the ship was buffeted by the explosion, Kira pulled back, diving through fire from the M1s, and fired a full burst into the ship's hull; the railgun shells pierced the bridge windows. Charging at last, he plunged his saber into the engine block, fired his plasma cannons into the ship's core, and backed away.

As the _Kusanagi_ exploded, Kira sliced two more M1s in half and charged at the Strike Gundam.

The Strike raised its beam rifle, but Kira was there to slice it in half; the Strike drew its beam saber, and the Justice came storming in from behind the Freedom; Kira's blazing eyes flashed—

Drawing his second beam saber, he ignited the blade to block the Justice's beam saber; his right-hand saber swung at the Strike. With a harrowing scream, Kira swung the Freedom around 360 degrees, slashing the Strike's head off with the left-hand saber and severing the right arm at the elbow with the right-hand saber. And with a final kick, Kira forced the Justice away and charged at the Strike, plunging both sabers into the Strike's cockpit.

As the Strike exploded, Kira charged towards the _Archangel_, brandishing both beam sabers.

"_YOU LIED TO ME!_" Kira shrieked, diving between the _Archangel_'s Gottfried blasts and plowing through its CIWS fire and missiles. "_I'LL KILL ALL YOU LIARS!_"

The Freedom thrust both of its sabers into the _Archangel_'s bridge; Kira fired another full burst into the _Archangel_'s engine blocks; as the engines exploded and a fireball consumed the ship, Kira swung around to bisect another M1. The remaining M1s charged; Kira pulled back, letting loose another round of volleys to wipe them out.

The Justice, the Strike Rouge, and the last M1s pulled back as the _Archangel_ exploded. The Freedom sheathed the sabers. The Sword Striker pack's abandoned anti-ship sword drifted by; the Freedom sheathed its remaining saber and took hold of the sword, igniting its blade; its eyes flashed.

"_IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!_" Kira screamed, as the Freedom charged up towards the _Eternal_. "_EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT!_"

The Strike Rouge stood in his way; Kira somersaulted over its head, slashed its Aile pack and its head off, and sliced it in half at the waist; the Strike Rouge exploded, and Kira moved on towards the _Eternal_. The last three M1s rose to challenge him; Kira cut through all three of them with the anti-ship sword.

"_EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU BETRAYED ME!_"

He saw the _Eternal_'s bridge; he dodged the fire from the METEORs and the Justice; he stabbed the sword into the _Eternal_'s bridge, shrieking.

"_I'LL NEVER AGAIN...!_"

Slicing into the rest of the ship, Kira went screaming down into the _Eternal_'s hull. He burst out with a cloud of fire surrounding him, and charged towards the Justice.

"_**ATHRUN!**_"

The Justice backed away; Kira shrieked in fury; the anti-ship sword plunged into the Justice's chest—

With a flash of fire, the _Eternal_ exploded.

Kira pushed the Justice away; it drifted towards the debris of the _Eternal_ and exploded.

Kira stared with dull, furious eyes at the wreckage of the Justice.

Across the battlefield, inside her GuAIZ, Valentine watched with glee as the Freedom floated among the desiccated remains of the Blue Cosmos renegades.

It had all gone perfectly.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	3. Phase 03: A Hero Remade

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 03 - A Hero Remade

——————————————————————————————————————————

**October 5th, CE 71 - ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras, _Lagrange Point 5**

The moment Kira Yamato removed his helmet on the cockpit hatch of the Freedom Gundam, Valentine's lips were there to capture his own. Kira blinked in surprise at the rush of sensation; for a moment he was lost, as her lips sensually crawled over his own, absorbing every inch of his skin that they could reach; her hands clenched around him tightly, claiming him for her own.

At last, Kira pulled away, his eyes wide and cheeks red. Valentine smiled at him, her eyes alight.

"You completely destroyed the Blue Cosmos renegades," she said breathlessly. "Wiped out the whole lot of 'em. They'll never bother us again."

The mechanics cheered, though Kira was not sure what it was they were cheering for; he noticed quite a few of them staring rapaciously at Valentine's body, in her thin, form-fitting flight suit, and that served to redden his face further.

"You protected us and destroyed dangerous enemies of the PLANTs," Rau's voice said from somewhere. Kira looked around, and Rau Le Creuset drifted down from near the Freedom's head. "You'll certainly be considered for the Order of the Nebula. You've done well, Kira."

Valentine kissed Kira's cheek as he looked around the hangar, bewildered. He had seen himself destroy the Three Ships Alliance singlehandedly; he still had his own screams of rage ringing in his ears. He still felt the energy, the power, the _vindication_ he had felt when the Strike's anti-ship sword plunged into the Justice's torso, absolving him of his crimes and punishing Athrun's. Hadn't he had his revenge? Hadn't he destroyed the Three Ships Alliance and avenged himself and, more importantly, Fllay? Hadn't he—

Kira's heart sank as he realized that he had only destroyed the Blue Cosmos renegades; the Three Ships Alliance still lived.

"Kira," Valentine said, breaking into his thoughts, "what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," he said quickly, gently untangling himself from Valentine's grip. "I just need some rest...it was all tiring."

Before anyone could say anything, Kira pushed off from the Freedom's cockpit hatch, aiming for the lockers. Back on the Freedom, Valentine crossed her arms, smiling at Kira as he disappeared into the locker room.

"I told you it would work," she said to Rau.

"Of course," Rau answered coolly. "The question now, however, is what you're going to do with him now that you've got him at this point."

"Simple," Valentine said, uncrossing her arms and cracking her knuckles. "My prey is wounded; the time has come to go for the kill."

"I sense this will be graphic," Rau said, crossing his own arms and looking skeptically at Valentine. "You're not really going to go toy with him even more now, are you?"

"I've got him right where I want him," Valentine said, turning to leave.

"But we don't want to break him and send him back to Lacus Clyne," Rau countered. "Watching you tinker with the boy's brain like blocks is certainly entertaining, but moderation is the key to getting this right. We don't want him to distrust us. We got lucky and now he's here; let's not waste it."

Valentine turned around, smiling darkly at Rau as she opened the collar of her flight suit.

"Like you said, Commander," she said, her eyes glittering with devious intent, "he's only sixteen. Show a little skin and he's all mine."

Rau frowned. "I thought you were only going to do that if it was the last remaining option."

Valentine turned to leave, smiling animally over her shoulder. "But Commander," she said, her voice thick with sweetness and sadism, "Everyone's always wanted a servant to do their bidding at one point or another. I'm just taking the opportunity to get one."

Rau watched her with an edge of disconcertion as she left.

Kira had no idea what he was in for.

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was pitch-black. Kira had strung himself through the shower, changed, and hoped no one would put him on duty. He thrust himself into bed, turning off the lights, staring forward into nothingness.

Nothingness. He didn't have to close his eyes, but he did anyway; he could see everything again, and feel himself destroying the Three Ships Alliance. He still felt himself fighting Athrun, destroying Mwu and Dearka and Cagalli, vaporizing Murrue and Lacus. He could still hear it and see it and feel it.

But it hadn't happened.

"You'll have your justice in due time," Valentine's voice said. Kira's eyes opened in surprise and he sat up, but could see nothing. "You worry too much, Kira. You'll be fine. Just relax."

Kira blinked uneasily, trying to figure out what was going on. There was a dark shape moving in the blackness, but he couldn't tell what it was. Something touched him; he jumped in surprise, before he realized it was Valentine.

"What did you see?" she asked.

Kira tried to speak, but his mouth had gone dry, and no sound came out.

"Did you see Athrun?" Valentine asked. Kira's lips trembled.

"Y-Yes," he whispered.

"Did you see the Three Ships Alliance?" Valentine went on.

"Yes," Kira whispered again.

He blinked in surprise as he felt Valentine's hand on his cheek. "That's what I thought," she said. "You've had a long day. Just relax."

Kira opened his mouth to speak, but his words drowned as Valentine kissed him, and everything began to fade away.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 2nd, CE 71 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

He stood in the office of an important PLANT councilor. He had something in his hand—it was a badge, an emblem, an insignia of some kind. It was shiny, curved, and beautiful.

Kira Yamato looked from the badge in his hand to the man who had given it to him. Gilbert Dullindal offered him a disarming smile.

"But...what's FAITH?" Kira asked helplessly.

"Fast Acting Integrated Tactical Headquarters," Valentine defined, from her place leaning against Gilbert's desk, arms crossed.

"ZAFT likes acronyms," Rau added, from his place at Gilbert's desk, toying with a crystal chess set. "It means we're special now."

Kira looked slowly at Rau. "Special?" he asked.

"You're above the standard rules and regulations of ZAFT," Gilbert said; Kira looked in surprise back at him. "FAITH answers only to the Supreme Chairman."

"But...you're not the Supreme Chairman," Kira said blankly.

Gilbert flinched almost imperceptibly—Rau snickered as he pushed a red crystal pawn around the chessboard.

"It means you're not really supposed to have that shiny badge," Valentine spoke up. "So be careful with it."

"We'll have more authority to do what we need to do now," Rau added, still smirking, as he took the white set's bishop in his hands and held it up to the light. "But be careful. Just because you've got it doesn't mean you should flaunt it."

Valentine arched a suggestive eyebrow at Kira, smiling knowingly; Kira looked at her, his eyes widened, and he looked away, blushing.

"Kira," Rau said, glancing at him as he stopped playing with Gilbert's chess set and stood up. "You and Valentine should get going. You have a shuttle to catch."

Kira blinked in surprise, looking over at Rau, but before he could say anything, Valentine seized him by the arm and half-dragged him out of Gilbert's office. The door shut behind them—Rau chuckled knowingly.

"He follows her like a priest following his goddess," Gilbert observed, crossing his arms and glancing uneasily at the door.

Rau smiled and resumed toying with the red pawn. "He's a good little servant," he said airily. "Valentine has trained him well."

Gilbert cast a sidelong glance at Rau. "Isn't that why you chose her to do this?" he asked.

Rau held up the pawn to the light and smirked at the red light cast through its transparent surface. "What can I say? She's good at what she does."

"What did you send them away for?" Gilbert asked, turning to face Rau.

Rau put the pawn back down on the board. "We still have things to take care of," he said. "But our little...'accident' is right on schedule." He glanced at Gilbert. "At least, our end of our little 'accident' is."

Gilbert's face soured. "The Council will vote me in," he said. "They may be Coordinators, but they're still politicians. They can be bought."

"And they have been," Rau added, airy again, picking up a white knight. "Djibril's bank accounts in Switzerland must be a wonderful thing to have access to."

"Where has he been anyway?" Gilbert asked impatiently. "Hasn't he managed to get a grip over Blue Cosmos yet?"

Rau shrugged. "Azrael's death threw everything into disarray. It's only been about a month." He glanced amusedly at Gilbert. "Besides, you haven't managed to get a grip over the PLANTs yet."

Gilbert's face soured further. "I'm working on it," he said curtly.

"So is Djibril," Rau said, putting the knight back down. "Just be patient. Everything will fall into place soon enough."

Gilbert looked away determinedly. "Of course," he said. "Everything will fall into place, and our world of Newtypes will be realized."

Rau smiled. "Of course."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 12th, CE 71 - PLANT Junius 5, PLANT, Lagrange Point 5**

Kira glanced uneasily at Valentine. Her face betrayed no emotion. He looked back down.

Down below, in the assembly hall, the representatives of the PLANTs stood with representatives of the Oceania Union and the African Community. They were signing something; it was a treaty. They were pledging to support each other, in war and in peace, with militaries and with money. Kira and Valentine stood on a balcony in the shadows, overlooking the hall, watching impassively.

"The Earth Alliance isn't signing?" Kira asked quietly.

"Talks broke down with them," Valentine answered neutrally, still staring down at the ceremony. "But that's what we want."

Kira looked back at Valentine. "Then if we're trying to..." He paused, stumbling over his words. "If we're trying to restart the war and kill the people who will hurt us—"

"We're not out specifically to kill people," Valentine said, looking at him. Staring at her hardened, focused face, Kira felt weak and chaotic. "People only change when they really screw up," she went on. "At the end of World War II, people tried to unify the world under one ideology. There were two such ideologies, and they spent the better part of the twentieth century fighting. Eventually, one side won. Then came the Reconstruction War. So many people died that the world tried to reunify itself in order to survive, and eventually, you had what we have now." She paused, looking back down at the ceremony. "It took huge wars and millions of deaths for the world to figure out that something had to change. And now, once again, something has to change. We can't have hate-filled Naturals getting left behind by pompous Coordinators. The only way to change the world is to launch a war far more massive than the last." She glanced at Kira. "So..."

Kira looked down dejectedly at the ceremony. "So the PLANTs won't negotiate with the Alliance anymore," he finished quietly.

"The only way to truly change is to suffer so much pain that anything else would be better," Valentine said. Her face darkened. "And we're going to provide a whole lot of pain."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 17th, CE 71 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

The home of Gilbert Dullindal was not a palace, but it was not necessarily a shack either. His salary as a councilor was not exorbitant enough to allow for the sprawling residence of the former Chairman Clyne, but it was nevertheless a nice house.

"Don't worry," Rau said, glancing across the backseat of the limousine as it cruised towards Gilbert's home. "We won't keep you here with all the scary Coordinators for long."

Lord Djibril glanced back at Rau distastefully. "Is your little accident on schedule?"

"Of course it is," Rau said, sitting back comfortably. "We've chosen to do it on the Bloody Valentine anniversary."

Djibril looked away pensively. "That's not the accident I was talking about."

Rau smiled. "Oh yes," he said, "_that_ accident. You'll have to be more patient with that one. Flare motors aren't the easiest things to acquire these days." He crossed his arms. "But I have a friend who should be up to the task.

Djibril sat back, crossing his own arms anxiously. "I don't like being here," he said. "I am vying for control of Blue Cosmos, and here I am in the midst of the enemy."

"You'll be okay," Rau said amusedly. "We don't bite."

Djibril snorted disgustedly. "That little slave girl of yours might," he snarled.

"Who, Valentine?" Rau asked with a Cheshire grin. "She'll only bite Kira. You're not overemotional enough for her tastes."

The limo came to a halt in front of Gilbert's home; Rau stepped out and held the door for Djibril. He smirked as Djibril swiftly made his way towards Gilbert's door.

As the limo drove off, Rau strode easily up to the door and smiled at Djibril.

"No need to be so nervous," he said. "You've met Gilbert before."

"I told you, I'm in the midst of the enemy," Djibril hissed.

The door opened; Gilbert stared almost ruefully at Rau and Djibril, and then curtly allowed them in. They were met with the lilting notes of a piano somewhere in the house. Djibril looked around uneasily.

"I don't know why you came here yourself, Djibril," Gilbert said, as he closed and locked the door behind them. He led them through a modest foyer, into an equally modest solarium with a piano in the beams of the sun.

Rau smiled at the thin young boy sitting at the piano. "Hello, Rey," he said quietly.

Rey Za Burrel looked over in surprise at the voice—the piano's song went silent.

"Rau!" he exclaimed. His eyes lit up in delight and he stumbled from the piano to Rau, throwing his arms around Rau's neck.

"Who is this?" Djibril asked brusquely, making himself comfortable in a red armchair. Rey released Rau quickly, startled by the other voice.

"Djibril, this is Rey," Gilbert said. "My adoptive son."

Djibril hesitantly shook Rey's hand as Gilbert seated himself. "And what happened to your wife?" he asked. "What was her name...?" He glanced at Rau.

"Talia," Gilbert supplied. "We...divorced."

"To business," Rau interrupted quickly. "We can discuss Gilbert's tumultuous love life later," he added, with a snide smirk at the offended Councilor. "Djibril," he began, "I am aware of your _extreme_ discomfort in being here, but your presence is necessary. The war has been over for about two months, and the postwar world is beginning to take shape. What I have dragged you two here for is to hammer out the final details of our little plan." He smiled. "Djibril, we'll start with you."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**November 25th, CE 71 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"Former Councilor Ezaria Jule has been convicted today of war crimes by the PLANT Judicial Committee," the anchorman said. The screen switched to the angry face of Ezaria Jule, standing handcuffed and humiliated before the imposing panel of the PLANT Judicial Committee. "Her charges include violations of the Corsica Treaty, illegal espionage, inappropriate domestic use of ZAFT military forces..."

Kira looked around and remembered where he was. He was in a plaza deep in the commercial sector of Aprilius 1. He had found a place off to the side and was watching on a giant screen looming overhead as a news anchor detailed the charges the PLANT's legal chiefs had levied against Ezaria Jule. He had gone out with Valentine at Rau's instruction, in order to relax—Rau had decided, somewhat arbitrarily, that Kira had been under too much stress and needed time off to clear his mind. And so Kira was standing out in the plaza now, dressed in an intimidating black outfit that he most certainly didn't like, looking around. Valentine had left him, but as she had told him, "only for a moment," sealing her promise with a coquettish kiss on his cheek. And so Kira looked back up at the screen, and Ezaria Jule's angry face again.

Kira vaguely remembered the name Jule, but he could not remember where he had heard it.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked; Kira turned and almost blushed as he saw Valentine approaching him. She definitely reminded him of Fllay now—she had chosen a slender red Oriental dress that accentuated all her curves and still managed to make her look dignified and elegant. She swayed towards him, standing in front of him, her presence demanding his attention.

"I was just watching the news," Kira said awkwardly, gesturing at the screen. Valentine followed his gaze and watched for a moment.

"Canaver is cleaning house," she said, almost analytically, almost for Kira's sake. "She doesn't want any of Patrick Zala's supporters in the Supreme Council."

"But what if Councilor Jule really did commit those crimes?" Kira asked, feeling almost helpless and futile. "Shouldn't she punished?"

"So what if she did?" Valentine asked, looking back at Kira; he blinked in surprise. "Either way, she's no longer a Councilor, she can't vote down any of Canaver's peace initiatives with the Naturals. Same effect."

Kira looked away; Valentine was right. It didn't really matter why Ezaria was no longer a Councilor. He looked back up at the screen.

"The Chairwoman is executing all of Patrick Zala's supporters in the Supreme Council," Kira said softly. "She executed Councilor Leitner last month."

"Of course she is," Valentine said. "Canaver doesn't want anyone to oppose her peace negotiations with the Naturals. It's just convenient that she can nail them on war crimes charges. That's why she's taking out Councilor Jule."

"The name 'Jule' sounds familiar," he said quietly.

Valentine glanced at the screen and back at Kira. "Ezaria's son Yzak Jule was a ZAFT pilot," she explained. "The pilot of the -X102 Duel."

Kira blinked in surprise. "The...the Duel?" His mind's eye was blinded by vivid images of the Duel, plunging through atmospheric reentry and shooting down that shuttle filled with Heliopolis refugees. He felt the pain again—he heard himself screaming again.

"Yeah, the Duel," Valentine said, frowning as her words fell on deaf ears. "Kira?"

Kira shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut painfully. "He...he shot them down," he murmured.

Valentine immediately swept in to seize Kira by the shoulders, shaking him hard enough to yank him back into reality.

"Kira, what's the matter with you?" she asked quietly, pushing him out of the middle of the square, looking around for a relatively secluded spot. "Are you really going to let what happened in the war control you?"

Kira blinked in surprise as Valentine sequestered him on a park bench far-removed from most of the pedestrian traffic.

"Look," she said firmly, staring sternly into his wide and awkward eyes, "you didn't want to fight. You got sucked into the war and had to fight to protect your friends anyways. You fought and tried to do something, but you were manipulated and lied to and just suffered more. Now you're here." She touched his face gently, pulling his chin up to force him to look her in the eyes. "We need you, Kira. Commander Le Creuset can't change the world. He needs your power to do it." She passed her thumb over his lips softly, drawing a sputter of surprise from Kira. "You saw what he showed you. You saw what people do, and what we have to do to stop the cycle and finally build a world where you don't have to fight. And..." Her features softened for a moment. "I want you to be stronger, Kira."

"Valentine..." Kira said helplessly.

"I want the world to change, just like Commander Le Creuset does," she told him. "But I don't have the power to do it, and the Commander can't do it. We both need you. Kira, _I_ need you. I don't want you to leave me." She touched his cheek again and paused. "You'll protect me, like you protected Fllay, won't you?"

Kira blinked. "Of...of course."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 4th, CE 71 - PLANT December 1, Lagrange Point 5**

It was night, not long after midnight. The world had gone dark and the bright lights of the city illuminated December 1. The light, however, did not reach the guest room of Rau Le Creuset's modest townhouse.

Kira was asleep. Valentine lay in his arms, staring at the ceiling, thinking. She glanced back at Kira, contenting herself to lie back and immerse herself in the steady rhythm of his slow, even breaths. Once again, Kira had proven that he might have been able to use the Freedom well, but he couldn't use _everything_ well.

That wasn't what was so interesting, however. He was the culmination of everything Rau hated, everything that had gone wrong, everything that had created Rau. Kira Yamato was the embodiment of all the sins that had brought Rau Le Creuset to life and given him his cursed body. And yet here Rau was, maneuvering Kira into his plans and under his wing like a pawn on Dullindal's stupid fancy chess set.

Of course, she reminded herself, Rau was only concerned with the ends, and Kira was just a means to the end. Athrun Zala, after all, had wiped out GENESIS, and the Three Ships Alliance had prevented the Alliance's nuclear attack on the PLANTs. Somehow, humanity had to be brought back to the point where they would be wielding such weapons again. If they returned to that point, though, then Lacus Clyne and her little band of followers would jump right back in to delay the inevitable and return humanity to that painful of cycle of wars they always fell into.

Unless Lacus Clyne was deprived of her warrior prince. Valentine glanced back at Kira, and smiled. The mighty Freedom, feared by every soldier on a battlefield during the war, was piloted by a shy little boy who blushed unhealthy shades of red the moment she had removed her shirt. So ironic.

It _did_ make sense now, though. During the war, Lacus Clyne had had Kira Yamato, the Ultimate Coordinator, and Athrun Zala, Boy Hero of the PLANTs, to do her bidding, to interfere in battles, to stop humanity from meeting its destiny. Clearly, one of them had to realize the futility of their actions. And of course, Kira didn't actually realize the futility of his actions, but that made no difference to Valentine. So long as he obeyed and went along with her and Rau's plans, she didn't care, and repeatedly dealing with his sexual ineptitude, not mention his ineptitude in many other areas of life, was a fairly small price to pay.

Besides, it was kind of funny, and that didn't hurt either.

She idly wondered what else Kira's power could be used for. Rau sought to end the world, but what else could Kira's power bring about?

The door opened—Valentine flung the covers over herself frantically, covering the essentials, as Rau Le Creuset glided into the room with a sadistic smirk.

"Interrupting something, am I?" he asked with inordinate amusement.

"Shut up," Valentine snapped, drawing the covers closer around her and glowering back. "What are you doing in here?"

"I hope you're not making a mess of my guest room," Rau said airily. "This is why I don't like having you two over."

"Oh, go to hell," Valentine muttered, looking away and trying not to blush indignantly. "What do you want?"

"There's a bit of trouble on Aprilius 1," Rau replied, still smiling. Valentine blinked in surprise. "You recall the other day, when the Judicial Committee sentenced Ezaria Jule to death?"

Valentine nodded cautiously. "What about it?" she asked.

Rau's smile got a little wider. "An old friend of mine has paid a house call."

Valentine's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean _he_ came back?" she exclaimed. She moved to get up, but then stopped and hid back under the covers. "Go away. I'll be out in a second."

With a knowing chuckle, Rau strolled out of the room. As Valentine jumped back into her clothes, she cursed under her breath and hoped this wouldn't screw up their plans.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Rau, sitting on his couch before the muted television, still had his amused smirk on his face as Valentine emerged with Kira's shirt on and, evidently, nothing else. Rau found it endlessly bizarre and even more entertaining how, on the surface, she and Kira looked like any other pair of overly explorative teenagers in love. He had to hand it to Valentine—she knew what she was doing.

"What are you dragging me out of bed for?" Valentine asked as she stormed towards him. Rau smirked back with sadistic amusement.

"I thought 'buckets of angst' weren't your type," he said. Valentine smacked him in the arm in annoyance, and Rau chuckled dismissively and restored the television's sound. Valentine plopped down on the couch next to him and stared with what looked to Rau like a pout at the screen.

On the screen, the Duel Gundam leapt into the air, somersaulting over the head of a beleaguered GINN. It landed with a crash, drew a beam saber, and sliced the GINN in two. As the GINN exploded, the Duel stormed forward again. The ZAFT troops struggled to bring it down, but their weapons were useless against the Duel's Phase Shift.

A GuAIZ swept in, raising its beam rifle to fire at the Duel. The Duel skirted the GuAIZ's beam shots and speared it on a beam rifle shot to the chest. As the GuAIZ plowed into the ground and exploded, the Duel rocketed up into the air and picked a DINN out of the sky with a railgun shot.

"That's Yzak Jule?" Valentine asked, crossing her arms and draping one leg over the other. "Since when was he any good?"

"He's angry and he has purpose," Rau said, watching with a hint of approval. "That, and ZAFT is weaker than we as ZAFT soldiers would like to admit."

The Duel landed in the street with a crash and met a charging BuCUE with a beam rifle blast. As the BuCUE crashed into the street and exploded, the Duel dove behind a building to dodge a bazooka shot from another GINN. It leapt up over the building and blew off the GINN's head with a well-placed beam rifle shot before the GINN could react. The Duel landed again with a missile volley that blew away a CGUE and another GINN.

Rau smiled. "He's going after Ezaria Jule," he said. "But are you too late, Yzak?"

A ZuOOT went down to another railgun blast, and the Duel burst through the smoke from its explosion. The Duel stopped in front of a damaged building—the camera zoomed in, and found a figure fleeing from ZAFT soldiers. Rau grinned, and Valentine arched an inquisitive eyebrow, as both realized that the fleeing figure was Ezaria Jule. The Duel reached down towards her—

Rau almost laughed as a gunshot rang out, and Ezaria Jule pitched forward into the Duel's hand, dead.

The Duel froze, and the ZAFT soldiers began to inch away, as the intimidating Gundam stared down at the corpse in its hand. Rau almost imagined he could hear Yzak's scream inside the Duel.

The Duel's eyes flashed, as all the fury of its angry pilot was unleashed, and it tore the ZAFT soldiers apart with a volley of CIWS fire. The Duel leapt into the air and rained missiles down on the ZAFT mobile suits and guns. It landed in an intersection and stormed forwards, towards a formation of GINNs led by a CGUE.

A white bolt of energy split the air in front of Rau, and he glanced over at Valentine.

"Get Kira," he said quickly.

"What?" Valentine asked in surprise. "Why—"

"Just get him," Rau said, looking back at the screen.

Valentine sighed and went back into the guest room. Rau sat back, his ubiquitous smile still hanging on his lips.

The Duel swept down into the GINNs' ranks with its beam saber, plowing through their useless machinegun fire and tearing them apart. They had angered Yzak now—this was not one of his usual tantrums, but real, powerful, unadulterated rage. ZAFT had done something to truly infuriate Yzak Jule...and now they were going to pay.

Yzak emptied his missile launcher into the ZAFT mobile suit ranks, and the flaming mobile suits plowed into the city. The Duel stormed up into the air anyways, lunging towards a squadron of DINNs and ripping them out of the sky with its saber. Yzak was fighting insanely, heedless of whatever damage he caused to the city or the PLANT, concerned only with wiping out any mobile suit that opposed him.

Kira wandered in groggily with Valentine, and she sat him down on the couch next to her.

"Pay close attention," Rau said with a smile, glancing at Kira as he struggled to wake himself back up. "There's a cameo coming up that I _know_ you'll recognize."

The Duel was attacked by a trio of GuAIZ that charged towards it, beam rifles blazing. Yzak pulled back behind his shield and fired back with his railgun, but the GuAIZ dodged. One of them swept around behind the Duel as the other two distracted it from the front. Yzak deflected more beam rifle shots, and the third GuAIZ dove in from behind, beam claw upraised—

A yellow beam blazed through the air, picking the GuAIZ out of the sky, and as the other two paused in surprise, two flashes of white and translucent pink slashed both GuAIZ in two. The blurry white objects curved back up into the sky, as the Duel landed in the street. Another mobile suit landed as well—the Buster Gundam swung around to take down an advancing squad of GINNs with a missile salvo. A third mobile suit came down on the other side of the Duel—Kira's eyes widened in disbelief, as he snapped fully awake.

The Justice Gundam raised its beam rifle and fired at an oncoming BuCUE.

"Athrun!" Kira exclaimed, standing up in shock. "That's...that's Athrun!"

Valentine cast a knowing glance at Rau and looked up at Kira.

"He's still alive!" Kira said, taking a step back and collapsing back onto the couch. "He's...he's not dead!"

"Of course he's not dead," Rau said. "You never killed him at Jachin Due."

The Duel charged up into the air after a DINN—the Buster caught the Duel before it could attack and took off into the sky, with the Justice right behind it, covering them both with beam fire.

"Athrun is still fighting..." Kira murmured.

"Kira," Valentine began, standing up next to him.

"Athrun...Athrun is still fighting..." Kira repeated, numb with disbelief.

"Of course he's still fighting," Rau said—Kira looked in surprise back at Rau. "He has power, just like you do, and he wants to use it, just like you do. But he will get in our way and use it for the wrong thing." Rau looked pointedly back at Kira. "Don't forget what he did to you, Kira. Don't forget what he did to Fllay."

Kira slowly looked back at the footage of the Justice Gundam fighting on Aprilius 1. His hands curled slowly into fists.

"Athrun..." he murmured, his voice tremulous as rage began to rise. "I'll...I'll..."

Rau watched with a smile.

"_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...


	4. Phase 04: Sympathy for the Devil

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

Note: With apologies to the Rolling Stones. Sorry, guys, I couldn't resist.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 04 - Sympathy for the Devil

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**December 13th, CE 71 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

There were many cemeteries dedicated to the fallen ZAFT soldiers of the Valentine War, but the cemetery on Aprilius 1 was the largest. The white tombstones stretched on seemingly forever, all of them little markers printed only with a name and dates of birth and death. Invariably, the lives ended in either CE 70 or CE 71. Every so often there was a family, or a girl, or a boy, or a knot of children, or an old man, or an old woman—someone was there, standing solemnly over a grave.

"You still trying to figure out why we're here?" Valentine asked.

Kira Yamato glanced at her in surprise. She was dressed in her best, a pristine red ZAFT uniform, as she held a trio of red roses evidently intended for three of the graves.

"I guess," Kira answered uneasily, looking around. Valentine smiled.

"Come with me," she said, turning and heading down a hill, into the lines of tombstones.

Kira felt himself run cold as he followed Valentine through the cemetery. He glanced over the tombstones and his blood ran colder. Every one of the names here could have been someone who came too close—someone _he_ had killed, someone whose name was here because of _him_. He had tried to preserve the lives of the soldiers when Lacus gave him the Freedom...but that didn't wash clean the blood on his hands from when he piloted the Strike.

"There's so many graves here..." he murmured.

"Indeed there are," Valentine said. "And most of them are empty. Most of the soldiers who died in the war left no remains for the living to bury."

Kira glanced over the rows of stones. A girl was kneeling over a tombstone, sobbing quietly; not far away, an old couple stood silently over another stone, and not far from them stood a woman with a small boy and girl, all staring mournfully at the stone at their feet. They had all been brought here because someone had died—someone Kira might have killed. There was no denying the blood on his hands.

"Ah, here we are," Valentine said suddenly. "The commander asked me to put some roses by these stones. Pay his respects and whatnot." She stopped in front of one grave and stooped to lay a rose atop the tombstone.

Kira read the name. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"N-Nicol Amarfi?!" he exclaimed. Valentine glanced at Kira, and then took a step back and saluted the tombstone.

"Nicol Amarfi," Valentine said, letting her hand fall. "Athrun told you who it was you killed, I take it."

"I...didn't...I didn't mean to..." Kira said helplessly, staring in shock at the white tombstone.

"Tell that to his parents," Valentine said. "Of course you 'didn't mean to.' But you did anyways. So your intention doesn't matter."

Kira stared wordlessly at the tombstone.

"Do you remember what we showed you when we first took you in?" Valentine asked. Kira looked back at her and nodded slowly. "Then you understand why we have to do this?"

"…no," Kira said quietly, looking back at the tombstone. "I don't understand how it will help."

Valentine took a step forward, putting a gentle hand on Kira's shoulder and reclaiming his attention. "Think of it as pressing a reset button," she said. "The only way for people to understand what they're doing wrong is when it comes back and bites them." She headed down the rows of stones, two roses still in hand, and Kira followed. "Fllay Allster died because of a mistake, didn't she?"

"Yes," Kira agreed quietly.

"And what was that mistake?" Valentine asked.

Kira fell silent. Valentine continued on her own, leaving Kira behind. Kira looked at the stones; at the names that belonged to people he never knew but might have killed.

What _was_ his mistake? Had it been trusting Athrun in the first place? Had it been going onto the battlefield at all? Had it been letting Fllay get away? Had it been not coming back to her aboard the _Archangel_ in the Marshall Islands?

Kira shook his head. Those were all unfortunate circumstances, things that he couldn't have helped. He looked back at the stone.

"He died at Jachin Due," a voice said. Kira looked up in surprise, finding a dark-haired woman standing next to him, dressed in black, gazing down sadly at the tombstone. "My brother. He was a mobile suit pilot."

Kira looked back down at the tombstone. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "He shouldn't have died."

He paused and blinked in surprise. _That_ was his mistake; listening to Lacus had been his mistake. She had tried to end the war without killing anymore people; she had tried to stop people from wanting to kill each other. And he had listened to her and followed her to the end…and what good had come from that? The war was over, but it was not because of Lacus Clyne. In the end, people had still died needlessly to conclude the war. In the end, it had come to the same bloody, miserable end that any other war came to.

Kira balled his fists, as tears formed in his eyes. Fllay had died because Kira had believed Lacus when she told him that no one more would have to die.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

_Never…again…_

——————————————————————————————————————————

Gilbert Dullindal cast a wary glance around the stage as he stepped up towards the podium. As he mounted the podium, he scanned the faces of his audience; nearly five thousand people, crammed into a university quad, looking to him with expectant faces. They were students, young and angry and feeling lost and adrift in the world. Most of them had just returned from the battlefield, where they had fought the Naturals that Canaver was telling them they now had to befriend and welcome with open arms. They were betrayed. They were the perfect people to support him in a campaign. They were the perfect servants.

As the noise died down, he steeled himself. He would give them what they wanted.

"Not long ago," Gilbert began perfunctorily, "this campus was empty." He gestured around himself, minding the gestures and making sure he did not look melodramatic. "Most of you were on the battlefield, fighting in the war, fighting to protect your homeland, your people, your families, fighting to make sure that the Earth Alliance never again repeated what it did to Junius 7 nearly two years ago." A pause. "Many of them did not come back," he added somberly. "Their sacrifices are the foundation on which this new world is being built, as it should. No soldier should have to die to return the world to the status quo." He paused. "But that was then, and this is now.

"Interim Chairwoman Canaver has proposed a number of measures to put our nation back on the path to glory and prosperity," he continued. "She intends to rebuild our nation, to bind our wounds and bury our dead, and with it our hatchet, and so focus our energies on the economy of this new world, so that we may empower ourselves that way. These are noble sentiments— we must all put the war behind us, and swallow our sorrow and anger, and move forward into the future, to create a new world out of the ashes of the old. But," he glanced around the audience dramatically, "there is one thing Chairwoman Canaver wishes to do that we must not accept."

He paused; the audience was festering in hatred, knowing what he was about to say.

"The Chairwoman wishes to destroy our independence," Gilbert went on. "She calls for a treaty that will render us prostrate, a treaty that will tie the economy of our nation to the Earth, and make us serfs for the Naturals, all in the name of reconciliation. How can we allow this to happen? You, students of the country, the youth of our nation, the flesh and blood that will be our future, fought to maintain our independence, and many of you died for it. How can you allow Chairwoman Canaver to call for us to walk back in time? There is no 'back in time' for us. We shall always move forward."

There were scattered cheers and applause, but Gilbert continued. He had more to say; he could not be stopped now.

"Before the war, we _served_ the Naturals." Gilbert held out his hands. "By our own hands, in our own homes, we built for them the luxurious lifestyles they abused down on the Earth, while we toiled thanklessly in space. Now we are a nation of our own, and yet the Chairwoman seeks to bring us back under the heel of the Naturals. How can we let this be?" He clenched his fists. "We are not meant to serve anyone but ourselves. We are a superior people. There is no denying it— through the ingenuity of the human mind, we have become faster, stronger, healthier, a superior force. How else did we hold off the Earth Alliance for nearly two years of continuous war? We are not meant to serve the Naturals. We are not meant to mingle with the Naturals and be one of them. We remain in our PLANTs here in space, these homes we built with our own hands, for that reason. And we, the ones who have embraced this new age and this new technology and the power of the human mind, are the ones who will inherit the future. If the Naturals wish to join us, they may; but if they continue to make war against us, we shall defend ourselves with every ounce of strength we can muster.

"Chairwoman Canaver has called for us to bow before the Naturals. I say this is ludicrous. We must never again allow the Naturals to destroy a PLANT and kill so many of our people. We must never let the Bloody Valentine happen again."

A roar of approval rose up from the crowd. They began to chant Gilbert's name. Gilbert took a step back, knowing that saying anything more was futile, and knowing that he had done what he had set out to do.

As he returned to his seat, he could not help but smile.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 16th, CE 71 - Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

"Djibril," the vexed face of Joseph Copland protested on Djibril's main screen, "you don't understand— "

"Of course I understand, Mr. President," Lord Djibril interrupted airily.

He leaned back, taking a sip of wine. He rose to his full height and stared imposingly at Copland…but Copland did not flinch.

"Djibril, we just fought a 21-month war with ZAFT," Copland said flatly. "We also had to deal with South America forcibly seceding. And we are exhausted from constant warfare around the globe to maintain the Earth Alliance, warfare that has now turned out to be for naught. What you ask is ridiculous. We lack the technology, the resources, and the energy to carry out such a scheme."

"It is _not_ ridiculous," Djibril said with a scowl. "The PLANTs are weakened. The Coordinators are in chaos. They have no idea what to do— some want to continue the war, some want to make permanent peace. Now is our chance to strike."

"The problems in the PLANTs are the same as the problems I face," Copland snapped. "This nation has just finished fighting a war in which our entire infrastructure was rendered powerless, we were helpless for over a year against ZAFT's mobile suits, and in the end, we still didn't win a decisive victory in space. We suffered heavy casualties and we need to retool our military to fight against ZAFT before we can go out and start another war with them. We're still trying to dig up their N-Jammers and we're still trying to install N-Jammer Cancellers, which you and your Blue Cosmos friends so generously withheld from us, to alleviate the energy crisis in our own nation, let alone the rest of the world. Think of _that_, Djibril, before you think of some lofty preemptive strike against the PLANTs."

Djibril purpled. "We still— "

"We have _nothing_," Copland interrupted harshly. "I have studied the mistakes of my predecessors, Djibril, and I do not intend to make the same mistakes they made. We are exhausted and incapable of fighting a war, so I will not throw us back into one. That is common sense. Use it, Djibril."

Djibril scowled and looked away. "You are letting a golden opportunity slip away," he snapped.

"It's not as golden as you think," Copland shot back. The screen went dark, and Djibril hurled his wine glass to the floor.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 21st, CE 71 - PLANT Maius 5, Lagrange Point 5**

They were seated in a dim, smoky bar deep in the industrial district of Maius 5, near the Maius Military Arsenal factories. There was a definite ZAFT presence— every so often Kira saw the distinctive green of a ZAFT uniform, belonging to either an off-duty soldier who had ventured into the commercial district to impress girls or an on-duty soldier who was standing guard and looked like he sorely wished he could go join the soldiers who had gone off to pick up girls.

Kira shook his head. He had more important things to worry about. He glanced across his ill-lit booth— Valentine was there, obscured by the shadows, watching the patrons carefully. They were here to meet someone— Valentine hadn't told him who.

Kira looked back at Valentine. She was in the shadows, invisible, untouchable. It was a far cry from when he knew her best, alone together in each other's arms, where she was as kind and gentle as he could imagine. But she was focused on work now— there was as much a time for business as there was for pleasure. That was her way, it seemed— to hide her emotions until the time was right.

A man emerged through the patrons and came towards them; Valentine glanced wordlessly at him. Kira looked over— the man in question was tall, muscular, and had a haunting scar over his nose. He looked otherwise inconspicuous, but the burning look in his eyes made it clear that he was a warrior, and a warrior with a purpose.

The man slid into the booth.

"Punctual as always, Sato," Valentine said amusedly. The man, Sato, glanced wordlessly at Kira.

"My men are beginning to gather flare motors," he said, his voice low and dark. Kira blinked and looked over inquisitively at Valentine. "We have collected nineteen flare motors so far. We need ninety-two more."

"It's a start," Valentine said with a shrug. "Have you upgraded your machines yet? Whenever you begin this operation, you will probably have to fight."

"We are modifying our mobile suits to the -1017M2 configuration," Sato answered. "We intercepted a cargo ship carrying decommissioned GINNs and High Maneuver II parts. Once we collect all the flare motors we need, we will begin our operation."

Valentine smiled darkly. "You still have the punctuality and efficiency of a ZAFT soldier, Sato," she said with a chuckle. "Once a soldier, always a soldier."

"We will have our revenge one way or another, Miss Sunogachi," Sato said grimly. "We will not allow anything to get in our way. This drop shall proceed as planned."

Valentine sat back. "It will take Councilor Dullindal some more time to become Chairman," she said, "and I'm sure it will take more time for you to acquire all the flare motors you need to move something so big." She glanced out into the bar for a moment. "Stay on the down-low. You will receive supplies when you need them— be assured of that."

"Very well, Miss Sunogachi," Sato said gravely, standing up to leave. "We shall continue our work and await word from you."

As Sato disappeared into the shadows, Kira looked over at Valentine urgently. "What were you— "

"Kira," Valentine said, cutting him off sternly. "We were discussing the spark that will ignite the embers of the last war. You should have known that."

Kira glanced in the direction Sato had gone. "I don't know what you're going to do," he said. Valentine sighed and leaned forward, taking his hand.

"Sato and his men wish to drop the remains of Junius 7 on the Earth," she began, "and have revenge for the Bloody Valentine."

Kira's eyes widened in disbelief. "They— " he began.

"They are full of hatred," Valentine said, "and you will find, Kira, that hate is just as blinding as love, and makes people do just as foolish things. We humans are the jesters of our emotions."

Kira looked away. "They're going to drop a colony on the Earth," he said quietly. "And it'll start a war?"

Valentine smiled. "Yes, Kira," she said. "It will start a war."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 26th, CE 71 - Lodonia Island, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea**

Joseph Copland was not coming around. Well, that was alright. It made no difference to Lord Djibril, standing in the shadows ominously, his face lit eerily by a soft green glow. It would all work itself out in due time— after all, certain events had yet to take place, and once they did, Copland was certain to be more negotiable.

He brooded silently in the shadows. They were all fools, of course. Rau had pulled him into this evil triumvirate with Gilbert Dullindal, the Chairman hopeful in the PLANTs, three men who knew more about the world than anyone else. They knew things that no else did. But it mattered little what happened in the past— it was the future that Djibril would have.

He still had to gain the confidence of Blue Cosmos's senior leading elite, but that would not be difficult. They had been yes-men for Murata Azrael— if he could simply appear to be continuing down the path Azrael took, they would more than likely select him to be their leader, and then he could finally finish things once and for all. Rau and Gilbert had brought him in because they had assumed that, like them, he had wanted to kill _everyone, _to punish humanity for its sins. Djibril's part in this play was to take control of Blue Cosmos, and through Blue Cosmos, the Earth Alliance. From there he was supposed to help guide the world into an unending war with ZAFT, where both sides would finally destroy each other, and take the world with them.

It was ridiculous, but Coordinators had a way of assuming ridiculous things. Besides, it helped to be in the loop with his foes— it made guessing at the PLANTs' next move that much easier.

He thought ahead, to the fall of Junius 7. Sato and his men were having difficulty acquiring the necessary equipment to perform such a monumental task as moving what was left of Junius 7 and dropping it onto the Earth. And from his current position, he could not help them. But it had to be done; Junius 7 would be the spur that would compel the weary Earth to pick its sword up once again. The blue and clean world would have to take a blow in order to have the strength to finish off the PLANTs once and for all.

Djibril smiled darkly to himself. At long last, the Coordinators would meet their destiny. Where Azrael failed, Djibril would succeed. The world would be blue and clean, truly blue and clean, at last.

Djibril looked up towards the source of the ominous green light. It was a large tank, filled with an eerie green chemical bath, and a human figure was floating in it. It was covered in hideous, disfiguring scars, particularly on its face. It would need time before it became what Djibril wanted it to be. But that was alright. Everything needed time, and in time, it would grow into something enormous, something beautiful, something powerful.

Djibril smiled, turning and stepping into the darkness.

_Your time will come soon, Neo Roanoke,_ he thought amusedly. _Your time will come soon._

——————————————————————————————————————————

**December 29th, CE 71 - Copernicus, the Moon**

Rau Le Creuset cut a striking figure in a black trench coat and dark gloves, replete with his distinctive mask— he was a frightening sight to behold. At his side was Kira, dressed in similar dark colors, looking none too happy— and at _his_ side was the ever-seductive Valentine in her swaying red dress. The trio had a combined air of danger around them— they had some dark purpose, although admittedly, Kira had little idea what their dark purpose was.

An inkling of their purpose, however, came as they descended down into the depths of Copernicus.

Kira looked around anxiously as he found himself in an unoccupied, shadowy warehouse. There was a gaunt, haunted-looking man with a soulless look in his eye waiting for them in the darkness.

"Ramirez," Rau said with a wolfish smile. "Your hiding places grow more subterranean with every calling."

The man, Ramirez, looked around anxiously. "I want to be done with this," he said in a nervous voice. He looked sharply at Kira.

"Don't worry about him," Rau said, before Ramirez could say anything. "He will be of no danger to you."

Kira glanced at Valentine, seeking an answer. She glanced back at him, unreadable.

"Do you understand what we have asked you to do?" Rau asked, still smiling.

"Of course I do," Ramirez said, in a cold, tremulous voice. "You want me to kill Canaver."

Kira looked back at him sharply. Rau nodded.

"Have you got it worked out?" he asked. "We want it done on February 14th, in the middle of her memorial service speech."

"Of course I have it worked out," Ramirez said, sounding somewhat offended. "I've killed lots of people already, why should she be any different?"

"Because when you kill her, you'll have the PLANTs baying for your blood," Rau said with a grin. Ramirez flinched. "Now now, my boy, not to worry. We'll ship you off to a nice comfy spot where scary ZAFT agents won't be waiting around the corner to cut your throat."

"The 14th, then," Ramirez muttered. "I can do it. Just hold up your end of the deal."

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" Rau asked amusedly. "The date is growing close, Ramirez. We thank you for your assistance." Rau allowed himself a servile bow and turned back towards an unreadable Valentine and a nervous Kira.

"What are you going to kill Canaver for?" Kira asked quietly as they stepped into the shadows. "She wants to stop all this pointless warring and suffering, just like us!"

Rau sighed, stopping in front of the elevator, his back to Kira. "You seem to be making the same mistake Canaver is making," he said quietly. He turned around to face Kira, sending a chill down his spine. "You intend to stop war, but you are not doing anything about the reason why we fight wars." He sighed again. "This war is necessary. We have already gone over that. This war is what will cleanse the world, purify it, purge its evil and restore it to the way it once was. When this war is over, there will be a world that will give meaning to Fllay Allster's death." Kira flinched at the mention of her name. "Yes, you are starting a war, in which people will suffer and die. But that suffering and death will have meaning. It will lead to a world in which something has actually been _changed_ and not just rearranged."

"But every war changes something!" Kira protested.

"Wars never change anything," Valentine said sternly, drawing his surprised attention. "All you get at the end of a war are redrawn maps, lots of dead people, and lots of destruction. All of the people who fought the war still hate each other. The only thing keeping them from fighting is that neither have the means to fight any longer— one lost and can't continue fighting, the other won and is tired of fighting. But someday they'll be fighting again."

"Lacus Clyne assumed that she could take away the weapons of war and, with them, remove the hatred that makes people use them," Rau said. "And Canaver assumes that words and treaties can remove the hatred that makes people fight wars." He put his hands in the pockets of his coat. "The fact stands that all three of you are underestimating just how powerful hatred is. Humans have been moved to do vast, enormous things by hatred. They wiped out entire races of people out of hatred. They invented terrible weapons out of hatred. They did their work because deep down, their hatred motivated them to do it. You are assuming that mere words and treaties, that running around and taking away the weapons, will remove that hatred."

Kira cast his eyes towards the floor, defeated. "…there has to be some way," he murmured.

"And we have shown you that way," Valentine answered. "It is up to you take it."

Kira looked back up at them both. He saw Rau, the dark, phantomlike figure, blending into the shadows, speaking calmly and patiently to him, explaining things to him. Lacus had been wrong, but he had a voice to counter her, a voice to prove her wrong, a voice to show him the way, a voice to offer him hope. And by his side was Valentine, the one he had to protect, the spirit of Fllay, the one who gave him hope, answers, strength, the will to fight and do what had to be done.

They both stared back at him carefully, both unreadable. Kira bowed his head in defeat.

"I know," he said.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**January 2nd, CE 72 - _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, near PLANT Armory 1, Lagrange Point 4**

Rau's room aboard the _Pythagoras_ was dark as he and Valentine stared out the window towards the imposing shape of Armory 1 in the distance.

"It is ironic," Rau said, "that as Canaver talks of peace, ZAFT finally finishes constructing this thing."

"It looks just like another PLANT from here," Valentine commented.

"Except that it's at L4 and all the other PLANTs are at L5," Rau pointed out. "Something will seem amiss in a PLANT that has somehow gone astray and wandered off to the other side of the Moon."

Valentine heaved a sigh and looked away. "Is there some kind of opening ceremony for it?" she asked. Rau shrugged.

"The same opening ceremony that any other newly-constructed PLANT gets," he said. "Some politicians get up and talk about how much hard work went into it and how much hope they have for the future, and then they open the gates and a million future drug dealers and prostitutes stream in to build a façade of happiness and prosperity to hide the hideousness of their true selves."

"You give Shakespeare a run for his money," Valentine snorted, casting a sarcastic glance at Rau.

"Besides," Rau added with a grin, "why would they announce the existence of Armory 1 to the world? As far as they hope the Naturals will be concerned, Armory 1 is just another PLANT. It's no military installation. They're not going to build a new battleship here. They're not going to build new prototype mobile suits here. It's just a PLANT."

"Another thing for Djibril to throw his nuclear warheads at," Valentine said airily. "What about this Sword I keep hearing about?"

Rau flashed a feral grin and took a step to his right, towards a darkened screen. "So glad you asked." He paused as he came up to his computer, searching for a file. "Councilor Dullindal has a plan for the world when we fight our little war," Rau said, still grinning. "Valentine…do you recall George Glenn and what he said Coordinators were for?"

"Bridging the gap between humans and their next evolutionary stage," Valentine said cautiously. "Why?"

"Our friend Dullindal has given that next evolutionary stage a name," Rau said. "Newtype."

"Newtype?" Valentine echoed incredulously. "_Them_ again?"

"He has a plan, as I said," Rau continued, turning around to face Valentine. "He is obsessed with these Newtypes. He wants to make a world of them. He wants to make us all into them. Sound familiar?"

Valentine shook her head in disbelief. "That _idiot_," she grumbled. "Did he forget what a Newtype _actually_ is?"

"He forgets a lot of things," Rau said with a shrug. "For example, he frequently forgets that he is not God. But this plan of his is awfully interesting."

He touched a button on his computer; the screen behind him came to life with a massive set of blueprints. A massive construct in space, focused at an enormous sphere with a smaller sphere mounted behind it, tapering off into a column that mounted six large black claws. Stretching ahead of the main sphere were six long claws with two enormous rings mounted between them. At the center of the long claws was an enormous nozzle that could only be one thing. Valentine stared at them in disbelief.

"That's…" Valentine murmured.

"Solomon's Sword," Rau finished, still grinning. "The ace up Dullindal's sleeve. He wants to destroy the population of the Earth, so that the Coordinators will no longer be threatened by some vengeful, envious army of Naturals, and they can all turn into happy omniscient little Newtypes and everyone will live happily ever after. And this," he gestured to the blueprints behind him, "is what he will do it with."

"Then what will we do?" Valentine asked, looking back at Rau.

Rau smiled. "We will do what we always do," he said. "We will walk up behind him when he is not looking and stab him in the heart."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 2nd, CE 72 - Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

Even though it was technically Bruno Azrael who was the father of the late Murata and traditionally would have been the obvious successor, the leader of the ruling elite of Blue Cosmos seemed to be the fairly corpulent, Santa Claus-looking Lucs Kohler. He was the man to whom Djibril directed his speech to in the parlor of his manor, that was the man that all eyes turned to for a decision, and that was the man who stood up when the elite of Blue Cosmos finally returned to Djibril with its decision.

"You said that you have a plan for us, Djibril," Kohler said in his old, gravelly voice. "We would like to hear what it is before we render our final decision."

Djibril stood up, towering over the mindless old men. "Murata Azrael gave his life in pursuit of our ultimate goal," he said, his voice overpowering the men in the room. "I have come before you to finish the job. He led us to the very doorstep of the PLANTs, and were it not for Lacus Clyne and her band of children, we would have destroyed the PLANTs once and for all. But I have a plan, a plan that they cannot interfere with, because this time Lacus and her cohorts will be unable to stop us."

"We did not come here for theatrics, Djibril," spoke up the testy voice of Duncan Luis Mockelberg. "Get to the point."

Djibril bit down a snappish response. "My plan is to let the PLANTs make the first move," he said. "Last time, we made our case for war based on tenuous evidence that did not completely convince the world before we attacked. This time, we will strike in response to a clear and present danger that the Coordinators will pose to us all, a danger that no one can deny. We cannot be too hasty— we must wait for the nations of the world to regain their strength, replenish their numbers, retool their armies to fight in this modern age. We must wait for the Coordinators to do something so drastic, so significant, so damaging that no one will stand in our way when we rise up to fight. And we will not have too long to wait— the Coordinators are having the same conversation in the PLANTs that we, gentlemen, are having today. They are preparing to strike. They wish to strike first, because we outnumber and outgun them, so as to weaken us before hostilities can begin in earnest. Let them strike first, I say; we shall strike back with strength a hundredfold! We will be prepared, gentlemen, and this time, we will not be stopped at the door of destiny."

The Blue Cosmos elite conferred among themselves for a moment, in a flurry of whispers and murmurs too low for Djibril to hear. At last, Kohler stood up again.

"Very well, Djibril," he said gravely. "We have decided. From this day forward, you, Lord Djibril, shall be the leader of Blue Cosmos."

Djibril only smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	5. Phase 05: A Different Way

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 05 - A Different Way

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 3rd, CE 72 - Earth Alliance base on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, Sahara Desert, Africa**

Kira Yamato took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself. He was here again, inside the Freedom Gundam, standing tall on the deck of a _Lesseps_-class land battleship as ZAFT went charging forward under a dark, clouded sky. His army, spread out behind him, was once again driving towards the Earth Alliance base and its steadfast defenders.

This time, however, it would be different.

Somewhere in there, Kira remembered, were three Strike Gundams, all designed to complement each other's fighting strengths and cover each other's weaknesses. They had defeated him last time. They would not do so again.

The Alliance fired their volley of ranging shots again— the army charged ahead anyways. The Alliance fired its second salvo— once again a handful of mobile suits went down in flames. The Freedom stepped forward and activated its wings with a flash.

"All troops," Kira called out, "_CHARGE!_"

The Freedom took off with a flash.

The ZAFT army charged behind him, but Kira ignored them. He didn't need them— he could destroy this base all by himself, and that he would. He armed the beam rifle and charged towards the lines of Strike Daggers.

The memories came flashing back, of the Daggers that continued to fight, even after Kira had disabled them. He narrowed his eyes. They would continue to fight no matter what Kira did. He had to destroy them.

The Freedom landed with a crash. The Daggers raised their rifles to open fire— Kira preempted them with a devastating full burst that smashed through the entire squad and wiped it out in a blaze. Kira watched the explosion painfully— it had to be done, he told himself. He looked up ahead, at the second line of Daggers, and lunged into the air over their heads, showering them with beam shots and blasting them apart one by one.

A BuCUE came charging over a burnt-out Dagger, firing its railguns wildly. A Strike Dagger across from the first line of anti-tank trenches lined up for a finishing shot; the Freedom rocketed into the Dagger's line of fire and shot it down with a rifle shot before it could fire. Kira grunted as the Freedom vaulted into the air, roaring up over a beam rifle volley. He glanced over his shoulder; the land battleships were opening fire, tearing apart the Alliance defenses at the front. He looked back down at the Daggers— the fight was progressing as smoothly this time as it had last time. But this time it had to be different. Kira steeled himself and took off, roaring down into the Daggers' ranks. They turned their rifles on him in surprise; Kira narrowed his eyes, as the seed burst before him, and swept down towards the hapless Daggers, firing a full burst to wipe out five Daggers before they ever knew what hit them. The Daggers backed away; Kira roared over their heads, firing into their backs, and drew a beam saber to attack the second line of mobile suits.

The BuCUEs tore their way through the hole in the Alliance ranks, firing a volley of railgun shells into the third line before the Daggers could react. Kira swept down into their confused ranks, firing a full burst that took down another seven Daggers. He took off again before they could return their firepower to him, and the invading ZAFT units promptly cut them apart while they were distracted.

Kira looked up ahead, towards a particular mobile suit hangar. _They_ had been there the last time. He charged, cutting down the two Strike Daggers feebly guarding it, and landed with a crash. The red beam came at him again— he skirted aside, letting it tear past—

With a crash, the Aile Strike, Sword Strike, and Launcher Strike landed before him.

Kira clenched his fists around the Freedom's controls. _This time…this time I won't let them beat me!_

The Launcher Strike opened fire again— Kira dodged again, cutting down a pair of incoming missiles as he did. Immediately, the Sword Strike came sweeping in behind him— he backflipped over its head, kicking it in the back as he did and sending it staggering forward. Landing with a crash, he raised his beam rifle to pick it off quickly— only to have the Aile Strike try to try to slash his rifle in two with its beam saber. Kira darted backward, switching to his beam saber, as the Aile Strike followed up with another swing— Kira deployed his plasma cannons and railguns, but was forced to dodge again as the Launcher Strike fired another shot from its hyper impulse cannon.

"Not again…" Kira growled. He lined up for a full burst, but the Sword Strike came barreling in, forcing the Freedom back with a winnowing overhead sword slash. It fired its rocket anchor up at the Freedom— Kira smacked it aside with his shield and took aim at the Sword Strike, but beam rifle fire from the Aile Strike forced him back again. He ducked underneath another shot fro the Launcher Strike, but immediately the Aile Strike came back down with its saber. Kira drew his beam saber, deflecting the Aile Strike's saber with his own, but the Aile Strike held him locked in midair. The Launcher Strike leapt up behind the Freedom, leveling off its cannon to finish the fight— Kira's eyes narrowed as he saw his chance— the seed burst—

Pushing off the Aile Strike's shield with the Freedom's legs, Kira spiraled through the air with a scream, and slammed his saber into the Launcher Strike's cockpit. The Launcher Strike exploded— Kira slammed back down onto the ground, sinking to one knee and ducking a beam rifle shot from the Aile Strike. The Sword Strike hurled its beam boomerang at him— Kira screamed as he charged forward, slashing the boomerang in half. As it exploded in midair, Kira charged— the Sword Strike came streaking towards him, swinging its sword horizontally. Kira ducked under the swing and slashed the Sword Strike in two at the waist, grimacing as it exploded behind him.

The Aile Strike landed with a crash behind the Freedom, firing its rifle— Kira whirled around, deflecting the shot with his shield and firing back with his plasma cannons and railguns. The Aile Strike jetted aside, but a railgun shell clipped its rifle, sending it spiraling out of the Aile Strike's hand. The Aile Strike drew its saber, charging towards the Freedom— Kira narrowed his eyes. The two Gundams met with a crash— the Aile Strike's saber came down onto the Freedom's shield, the Freedom's saber onto the Aile Strike's shield. Kira scowled, seizing his chance, and deployed the plasma cannons—

With a thunderous explosion, the deed was done.

The Freedom straightened up. Kira cast a wary glance at the ZAFT lines as they poured over the base. He turned towards the rest of the Alliance lines as they pulled back, fighting the ZAFT mobile suits at close range, and took off. The mission wasn't complete yet— the Alliance base had to be completely taken.

A Buster Dagger tried to shoot him down from below— Kira picked it off with his beam rifle. He came down at another hangar, shooting down another pair of Strike Daggers, and an instant later, there was a crash— a hangar door across an airfield opened ponderously—

The Justice Gundam loomed above him, eyes flashing.

Kira's eyes widened in disbelief. "_Athrun…!_"

The Justice leveled off its rifle and fired— the Freedom lunged to the side, taking cover behind its shield as the Justice poured firepower after it. The subflight lifter snapped up into position— the Justice took off after the fleeing Freedom.

"You…" Kira growled, whirling around and charging again, squeezing off a shot at the Justice's exposed torso. The Justice slapped the shot aside with its shield, roaring up over the Freedom's head and pouring firepower back down on Kira. "You're here again…!"

The Freedom drew a beam saber and charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, Lagrange Point 5**

Rau smiled, crossing his arms, and watching with ruthless amusement as Valentine deftly maneuvered her simulator avatar of the Justice Gundam, doing battle with the Freedom. It was, of course, a simulator, and anyone with any sort of presence of mind would realize that. But what presence of mind did Kira have? He saw the Justice— and like a trained dog, Rau mused, he attacked.

Love could move people to do amazing things…but so could hate.

"Of course," Rau said, looking over Valentine's shoulder at the screen— the Freedom fired a full burst, the Justice artfully dodged, "I suspect you'll let him win."

Valentine snorted amusedly. "Maybe," she shot back. "If I take enough pity on him."

Rau chuckled to himself and said no more, watching the battle.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 3rd, CE 72 - Earth Alliance base on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, Sahara Desert, Africa**

The two Gundams shook as they crashed together, beam sabers blazing. Kira screamed as he surged forward, the Freedom's wings flashing to life— the Justice backed away, slamming the ends of its two beam sabers together and charging with a dual saber. It brought the top blade down with a crash onto Kira's saber— Kira scowled as it swung the bottom blade towards him and stopped it with his shield.

"You…" he snarled.

He saw Fllay's shuttle again, drifting off the battlefield— he saw the Justice raise its rifle again and shoot it down— he saw the flames again, he saw the Justice again, he surged with anger—

"_I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!_"

The Freedom charged, slamming into the Justice with its shoulder and throwing his foe back. Kira lined up for a full burst— the Justice skirted aside, circling around him with a blazing beam cannon salvo. Kira somersaulted over the shots, returning fire with his railguns— the shells pounded the Justice's armor, forcing it backward, and Kira lunged up through the smoke to slam his saber back down onto the Justice's shield.

The Justice threw Kira back, putting its force behind its shield, and charged again, twirling its dual-bladed beam saber. The Freedom somersaulted over its head, swinging around to stab into its exposed back— the Justice whirled around to stop Kira's blow with the bottom blade of its saber.

"_YOU WON'T BEAT ME AGAIN!_" Kira screamed.

His eyes flashed— images swirled around him; of the Strike and Aegis fighting desperately in space; of the Aegis crushing the Skygrasper's cockpit and snuffing out Tolle's life; of the Justice blocking the Raider's finishing beam cannon blast…and everything returned to that debris field in space, near Jachin Due, as the Justice stormed into his battle with the Providence.

"_WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!_" Kira shrieked, bringing his saber down again, and following up with a punishing kick to the Justice's face. He stormed down after his reeling foe. "_I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!_"

The Justice charged back towards the Freedom— with a crash and a shower of sparks, their sabers slammed together. The Justice threw the Freedom back, raging up after the winged machine, beam cannons blazing. Kira deflected them with his shield, pounding his saber back into the Justice's shield.

"_YOU FOUGHT BY MY SIDE!_" Kira screamed, eyes flashing vindictively. "_WHY DID IT HAVE TO TURN OUT THIS WAY!?_" The Freedom forced the Justice back. "_WHY DO WE HAVE TO FIGHT EACH OTHER AGAIN?!_" The Freedom charged down towards the Justice as it righted itself. "_**WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE MY ENEMY AGAIN!?**_"

The Justice looked up— Kira screamed— the Freedom drove its saber into the Justice's cockpit.

With a thunderous explosion, the Justice was gone— Kira went reeling back, still wielding his saber, and fired the Freedom's engines to stop himself. He looked up furiously at the fireball, and tried not to cry.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, Lagrange Point 5**

"Impressive indeed," Rau chuckled, as Valentine pulled herself out of the simulator. "Of course, the real thing will be far different…but nonetheless, I do believe we have made excellent progress."

"And yet _I'm_ the one who gets my ass kicked," Valentine grumbled, running a hand through her hair in irritation. "I still think it would have been better if I had beaten him."

"It doesn't really matter," Rau answered with a shrug. "He still hasn't defeated Athrun Zala." He paused, and chuckled again. "And nobody has to know that you were so easily trounced by a crying little boy."

"Shut up."

"Really, were you going easy on him?"

"_Shut up._"

Rau chuckled one last time, turning towards the door. "Either way," he said, "go make sure to be somewhere where he'll find you soon. We wouldn't want him getting suspicious."

Valentine rolled her eyes, buttoning up her collar. "You'd think he'd realize that it was a simulator match."

Rau grinned. "You'd think he'd realize Athrun really didn't shoot down that shuttle, either," he said. "Now get going. I know you won't turn down a chance to play with his brain again."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 4th, CE 72 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 1**

"Gil," the boy said quietly, standing halfway in the shadows. "When will it happen?"

Gilbert Dullindal, sitting back in an overstuffed chair with a thick newspaper open before him, glanced up at the boy. "Any day now, Rey," he said. "And after that, you understand your role?"

"I am already doing well in my classes, sir," he said, straightening up. "But there is one boy…"

Gilbert arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You told me that if I was in the presence of another Newtype, I would feel pressure coming from him," Rey went on. "And there is one boy from whom I feel such pressure."

Gilbert turned towards Rey, intrigued. "Go on."

"He is an immigrant from Orb," Rey continued, "and I am unsure of his background, but he is moody and antisocial. He seems angry and despairing. He is already excelling in his classes and training, but he has had many incidents with other trainees and instructors."

Gilbert nodded in interest. "And he is a Newtype?"

"I do not think he has realized or used any of those powers," Rey added. "But I feel strong pressure from him. And I feel that with training and your tutelage, he could become a powerful Newtype."

Gilbert nodded again. "And what is this boy's name?"

"Shinn Asuka."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 5th, CE 72 - ZAFT _Nazca_-class destroyer _Pythagoras_, Lagrange Point 5**

"Another probe, sir!" one of the deckhands reported. "Two o'clock, distance 400!"

"CIWS emplacements, lock on and fire at will," Cummings ordered.

Standing on the bridge of the _Pythagoras_, Rau smirked, arms crossed, watching the CIWS bullets lance out and strike another satellite, blowing it apart.

"It is rather insulting that the Alliance has tried to deploy all these probes within our airspace, and thought that we really would not notice them," he said. "So it is only fitting that we destroy them."

"Of course, sir," Cummings answered. "But deploying intelligence satellites within a sovereign nation's territory is a very warlike move."

Rau shrugged back. "The Earth Alliance has some very warlike people within it," he said. "As do we. Councilor Wilson on the National Defense Council already submitted another plan for us to attack the Moon. We have our fair share of war hawks as well."

"Probe at eleven o'clock, distance 250!" one of the deckhands cried.

"CIWS, fire!"

The CIWS shredded the next satellite. Cummings shook his head.

"It is strange that not even six months have passed since the end of the war, and already we're crawling towards another," he sighed.

"It's inevitable," Rau replied. "As long as the leaders of both sides do not truly seek peace, what can peace be but temporary?" He turned. "I doubt the Alliance will be so foolhardy as to post defenses for their probes. They were hoping we wouldn't notice them in the first place. I'll leave the bridge to you."

"Understood."

Rau turned and drifted out the bridge door, smirking. It certainly hadn't taken _them_ long to get back into the habit of war.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kira crawled out of the Freedom's cockpit with a sigh, mopping sweat from his brow, and glanced down at the cockpit's main display. Maintaining this thing had never been easy, but now he was helping the _Pythagoras_'s engineers upgrade the avionics, and that was even harder.

"Working hard, I see," Valentine's voice chuckled. Kira turned around in surprise, finding her perched on the Freedom's head, smiling. "Did they give you increased work ethic too?"

Kira blinked, confused. "I'm just doing my job," he said, looking down at the engineers as they poked and prodded the dismantled Freedom. "They're upgrading the avionics. I have to upgrade the OS to match."

"Of course," Valentine agreed, "but after that, we have something else to do." She extended her hand towards him. "Come up here, you can take a break."

Kira reluctantly sat down next to her on the Freedom's head, looking down awkwardly at the mechanics below, as they started cursing at each other.

"Besides," Valentine added, smirking, "you won't get anything done if they're acting like _that_."

Kira nodded, resting his chin tiredly on his hand and leaning on his knee. Valentine glanced at him.

"Why so depressed?" she asked, inching closer, smiling. "You need something _done_ about it?"

Kira blinked in surprise, reddening, as he looked over at her, sputtering for an answer. She shook her head and laughed.

"You are hopeless," she giggled. Kira looked back down at the hangar floor uncomfortably.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Why are you here?" he asked.

Valentine looked back at him, eyebrow quirked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, here, with ZAFT," he added.

Sitting back, Valentine looked up at the GuAIZ standing across the hangar, as the mechanics over there slowly put it back together. "My parents were killed in by Blue Cosmos when I was four," she said. "I'm a first generation Coordinator, so my parents were Naturals." She closed her eyes and shrugged, a thin smile still on her lips. "And what's a four-year-old little girl to do but run to the first pair of arms that open for her?" She opened her eyes again. "The Coordinators never really did that, so I wandered around in the shadows of the PLANTs, until eventually the Commander found me and pulled me off the streets. I grew up under the auspices of ZAFT, and joined the military when I was old enough." She looked over at Kira, smiling. "And here I am."

Kira stared at her, aghast. "Y-You're a war orphan?"

"Sort of," Valentine answered. "Depends on what you consider as war." She sighed. "The Naturals killed my parents, but it's hard to have much liking for the Coordinators when they ignored me too."

"I-I'm sorry," Kira started uneasily. Valentine waved him off.

"I don't need any sympathy," she added. "The past is the past. The Commander took care of me until I could take care of myself, and I've come out alright for it." She glanced over at Kira. "Don't you think so?"

Kira blushed again. "Yeah…"

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 7th, CE 72 - Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

The newscasts showed a city in flames— and given that that city was Jerusalem, Djibril noted, the world should already be seething with craven religious warfare.

He watched with detachment as Jerusalem burned and half the world writhed with furious riots and street fighting. But it wasn't as bad as Djibril had expected— a century ago, the world would have destroyed itself in rage as one of its holiest cities burned away. But not now— oh, there was plenty of fury, but nobody had yet done anything coming close to making good on their threats of holy war. That, Djibril mused, was rather odd— was religion that weak in this new Cosmic Era?

He watched as the brown-uniformed soldiers of the Muslim League swallowed their fury to try and keep the peace. The leaders of the Israeli Separatists were spouting just as much incendiary rhetoric, but it seemed no moves had been made.

Djibril wondered if Rau had had a hand in this. He doubted it— Rau preferred to exploit much more fundamental human weaknesses than religious zealotry. Atheism, after all, was the order of the day in the PLANTs, and it was remarkably hard to get an atheist riled up over an offense to God.

Besides, Djibril reminded himself, he had much bigger things planned.

Djibril stood, changing the screen to show a real-time feed of the remains of Junius 7. Rau already had maneuvered a gang of Zala extremists into acquiring flare motors to move the wreckage and drop it on the Earth. That was fine with Djibril— dropping a big nasty thing on the Earth always had enormous shock value, and nothing of the like had happened in the Cosmic Era, so it was bursting with political potential.

The apocalyptic similarities were rather amusing, really. Once again, the armies of good and evil would clash.

Djibril smiled. Good would, of course, be victorious.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 11th, CE 72 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"The Chairwoman is giving a speech on the 14th to mark the second anniversary of the Bloody Valentine incident," Valentine explained, a map spread out before her on Rau's coffee table, with Kira sitting dutifully next to her. She pointed to the audience hall in which Canaver was going to give her speech. "Our friend Ramirez will be on one of these balconies. He'll shoot her, and that will be our signal to join the ZAFT soldiers inevitably sent to find the shooter. We'll look as surprised as they'll be."

Kira nodded reluctantly. "And…then what?" he asked.

Valentine sat back, arms crossed. "The PLANT Supreme Council will take a vote on a new interim Chairman, until the PLANT-wide elections on April 1st," she said. "And Councilor Dullindal is confident that he will be elected."

"And…the Destiny Plan will bring us all peace and stop the cycle," Kira finished haltingly. Valentine nodded dourly.

"And you'll finally get your chance to fight Athrun," she added, smiling darkly at Kira.

Kira's eyes flashed. "Right," he agreed.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**February 13th, CE 72 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

The click of metal on metal reverberated through the hotel room. Rau looked up at the ghostly-looking shell of a man, his dark clothes sticking out painfully against the sterile white hotel décor.

"Ramirez," he chuckled, his black trench coat rustling as he crossed one leg over the other. "You're not taking any chances, are you?"

Ramirez steadily screwed the sniper rifle's silencer on. "Look man," he said, "you offered me this job and I gotta take it." His hands shook as he loaded the cartridge with a handful of two-inch-long metal bullets. "This ain't no 'kill the cheating husband' job, no way, I'm killing a fucking head of state."

"Even so," Rau said, looking on guardedly, "the speech isn't until tomorrow. You're getting on with all this a little early."

Ramirez snapped the cartridge into place and picked up the scope. "Well, look, I don't wanna take any chances," he said. "If I fuck this up, they'll kill me. I'm a fucking Natural."

"Your faith in my ability to whisk you off somewhere where ZAFT can't bother you is awfully low," Rau remarked. "I paid you not to worry about escaping, but to kill Chairwoman Canaver."

"Well, how am I gonna even get in a position to kill her during the speech?" Ramirez complained, as he attached the scope. "It's a fucking Junius 7 memorial. She's gonna have security coming out the ass."

"I'll worry about that," Rau said dismissively.

"If you can get past all the security, why don't _you_ kill her?" Ramirez shot back. Rau chuckled.

"Oh, it would be awfully convenient that way, wouldn't it?" he agreed. "But, you see, this is part of a much larger plan, and it would be rather compromised if _I_ were the one to pull the trigger, satisfying as it may be." He grinned. "I'm sure you understand."

"Not really," Ramirez grunted.

"Well, you don't need to," Rau countered. "All you need to do is pull the trigger."

"Okay, okay, just pull the trigger," Ramirez sighed. "You want me to do anything special? Shoot her after she says something in particular, something like that?"

Rau paused, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "See if you can hit her if she makes an open-armed gesture, like she's embracing someone." He smiled. "You see, I do love irony. And to die while dropping her guard to embrace the world…I think you understand that much."

Ramirez looked back down at his rifle. "You're sick, man."

Rau grinned back. "Some people call it genius."

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued…


	6. Phase 06: To Change the World

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - The Power to Protect

——————————————————————————————————————————

Phase 06 - To Change the World

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**February 14th, CE 72 - PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

The dull roar of the crowd filled the audience hall of Aprilius 1's largest university as the audience slowly trickled in. Flak-jacketed ZAFT guards toting assault rifles were standing at all corners of the hall, watching the audience carefully. An array of Councilors and ZAFT officers were already on the stage, seated behind the podium in a lazy semicircle.

Among the politicians, Gilbert Dullindal sat back and smiled. It was almost time.

He glanced down at his PDA, looking over his itinerary. He would of course have to show up for an emergency council vote, the vote that he was certain would put him in power. But after that was all done, and he had solidified his position as first the interim Chairman— and then the Chairman in earnest— he had one more thing to attend to.

He smiled down at the grim young face of Shinn Asuka. The boy's red eyes glared back at him through glossy locks of black hair. Gilbert could see suffering in the shimmering crimson eyes in that simple ID photo, taken at his enrollment into the ZAFT Academy. He looked over the boy's grades— in regards to pure training and performance, he was unstoppable and impeccable. However, the instructors had tempered his statistical impressiveness with less than glowing comments about his personality— he was "antisocial and moody;" he was "overly hotheaded and gets into fights with classmates often;" he was "undisciplined and disinclined to follow orders."

In short, Gilbert thought, he was an asshole.

Well, that was all right. Gilbert could think of other great figures of the past who had been assholes.

He pocketed his PDA with a smile.

_I am looking forward to meeting you, Shinn Asuka._

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kira crossed his arms and immediately cringed as he felt the handgun concealed in his uniform. He glanced over the ZAFT soldiers, armed to the teeth, staring dourly at the audience as they slowly filtered into the audience hall. They were all going to witness something horrible, yet they seemed completely oblivious.

Valentine came up next to him, glancing at him meaningfully. He nodded; they both turned and slipped into the shadows together.

"Ramirez is moving into position," Valentine whispered. "I have no idea when he'll fire, but knowing the Commander, it'll probably be at some really dramatic point."

"Does this have to be so theatric?" Kira asked. "I mean…" He trailed off and shook his head.

Valentine watched him carefully. "Don't falter now," she said sternly. "We're too far along, and Canaver will do whatever she can to stop us unless we remove her."

Kira looked down at the floor and said nothing more.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

Scratching his black cat's chin as it sat purring in his lap, Lord Djibril ignored the blathering newscaster as he watched the live footage of Chairwoman Canaver's speech. The stage was still devoid of the star herself, instead filled with councilors and ZAFT officers. There were guards all over the place— Djibril wondered how any assassination could possibly take place with so much security.

He shrugged. Rau would figure _that_ out.

The anchor said something about this being an important time for the Coordinators. Djibril swallowed the feeling of distaste— he would have to put up with the obnoxious sentimentality of a mob of wailing Coordinators if he was ever going to see the assassination itself.

There was some motion at the back of the stage, and a roar of applause rose from the crowd as the Chairwoman stepped out.

Djibril smiled and settled into his chair.

"It's showtime."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Chairwoman Eileen Canaver made her way from the back of a red-curtained stage to the podium at its front, emblazoned with the bold logo of ZAFT. She stepped up to the bushel of microphones before her, as the applause filled the hall, drowning out everything, and raised her hands for calm— slowly, the applause died down, and she smiled at her audience kindly.

She paused, looking around at the faces. They were young and hopeful.

"Two years ago," she began, "nobody looked so happy." She put her hands on the sides of the podium. "Two years ago, we mourned the loss of thousands of our own, in one terrible act of destruction. I remember those days, when I was a young junior Councilor in a frenzied government preparing for war. The Supreme Council sent an enormous bouquet of flowers to the site of the tragedy— a flower for every person whose life was lost there." She paused. "I personally oversaw the shipment of it to Junius 7. And I saw before me exactly 243,721 flowers. And, looking at all those rows and rows of flowers, it was then that I truly realized just how many people had lost their lives…and just how terrible a tragedy it was.

"We all know what happened after that," she went on. "The Bloody Valentine galvanized us, and we invaded the Earth. The Earth fought back, until six months ago, when we finally put our weapons down, before we could destroy each other in our rage. And now we have had six months to heal from the scars of the Bloody Valentine and the war. We have still more healing before us. But we have made progress."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ramirez's heart pounded as he slipped through the shadows, clutching his sniper rifle in a death grip, praying it would make no noise. He darted up a staircase, past a guard distractedly watching the speech on a television monitor overhead. He slipped through a door, gently closing it behind him and silently hoping that no one had seen him.

He scanned the balcony— it was perfectly recessed in the shadows, as the lights were dimmed for the Chairwoman's speech. He looked across to the other side— there was a dark staircase that appeared unguarded, and led to a door that, he recalled from the map, could lead him out to an alley that would wind its way away from the audience hall, and eventually take him to freedom. Rau would meet him somewhere in that alley, and hide him, and protect him.

He shook his head. This was the perfect place for a sniper to hide. He checked his sniper rifle one last time, making sure the silencer and flash suppressor were tightly fastened where they were supposed to be. He checked the cartridge again, looking over the six barb-like bullets inside. He checked the scope one last time— perfectly colored and tinted to reduce the glare from reflected light anywhere else.

And with that, he crept over to the guardrail and took up his position.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The curtains behind her slid apart, displaying a panorama of the wreckage of Junius 7.

"This was our symbol of war," Canaver continued. "We told ourselves not to forget Junius 7, not to forget the Bloody Valentine, and we found the strength to fight. But with that strength came anger, and with that anger came yet more tragedy. We inflicted on the Naturals the same suffering that they inflicted on us. We forgot the preciousness of human life— we became the monster we sought to destroy.

"But we fought on anyway," she went on. "And we were driven back, inch by inch, to the border of our territory. And at the end of the war, at the height of our anger, the Alliance used nuclear weapons on us again. But this time, we went too far, and answered their nuclear weapons with one of our own. And it took the actions of outsiders to stop us from doing something we would all regret.

"Now we have made peace, but the process of building this peace is painful. But it is worth the struggle."

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was almost providential, Rau mused, that the audience hall was set up this way. He stood on one balcony, arms crossed, watching the speech from the darkness. He glanced across the hall, at the opposite balcony— he saw the dim shape of Ramirez, taking aim with his sniper rifle.

Rau gazed from Ramirez's position to Canaver's podium— it was a perfect shot.

He reached into his uniform, smiling as he felt the hard metal of a handgun tucked into his shirt. He had promised Ramirez that he would send him somewhere where ZAFT could never find him.

He slipped a fresh clip into the pistol, chuckling as he heard it click into place. He would hate to go back on his word.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Many of you here were on the front lines of that war," Canaver said. "And many more of you watched loved ones go off to far-flung battlefields around the world to fight and die. We all suffered, sacrificing our families and friends, but we thought that sacrifice was worth it, until the very end of the war, when finally, someone was there to remind us that it wasn't." She gestured to the drifting, haunting wreckage behind her. "The people here died because of a terrible, needless war. It is our task, as the survivors, to ensure that others shall not have to make that sacrifice again.

"No one is denying that we have a hard road ahead of us. The scars the Naturals left on us, and the scars we left on the Naturals, are deep indeed. But we cannot let that stand between us and the prospect of final, permanent peace…or else it will not be long before we are leaving more and more scars on each other.

"On this day two years ago, many people came to hate the Naturals. And many still do. But I urge us all, everyone, to swallow your anger and join is in creating a lasting peace for this world. The people who died here died to show us the price of such a war. We must not impose that price on anyone, ever again."

——————————————————————————————————————————

In the crowd, arms crossed and one leg draped over the other, Valentine snorted in annoyance.

"A politician taking an opportunity to stump for her policy," she grumbled.

"But she's talking about peace," Kira murmured. "Isn't that a universal message?"

Valentine glanced at him oddly. "If she really wasn't trying to push her peace plan, she wouldn't have 'urged us to swallow our anger' or whatever." She looked back at the speaking Chairwoman. "She's a politician. They're all the same."

"But she wants peace," Kira protested. "And so do we…isn't that the point of remembering Junius 7?"

Valentine smirked. "That's one way of looking at it."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"For six months, we have been involved in difficult negotiations with the nations of the Earth Alliance. But it is to be expected that these negotiations are difficult. We have many grievances with the Alliance, and the Alliance has many grievances with us. But already we have made important progress towards a lasting treaty between the Coordinators and the Naturals, a treaty that will become a testament to the will between us for an end to conflict.

"This goes beyond politics and debate," she continued. "The struggle to create a peaceful world is the objective of all people, regardless of their method, and now that we have that objective in reach, I urge us all to put aside our differences and embrace the Naturals, as we embraced each other during the war. There is no reason for us not to. The Naturals sacrificed their families and friends to this war just as we did. They felt the same anguish at those losses, just as we did. And they too call for peace, just as we do.

"Our people are different in many ways," she went on, "but we are all still people. We have made great strides in medical and space life technology— for what purpose did we build them, if not to share them with others and better their lives? The Naturals have minds as brilliant as ours, untouched by genetic modification— why should we ignore their genius simply because their lives began in a womb, not a test tube? The Naturals are greatly important, and it would be to our great shame to disregard them."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Gilbert Dullindal smiled as he saw the dim form of Rau's assassin take aim from a darkened balcony high overhead. It was almost time.

He glanced back over at the Chairwoman, as she thundered out praises for the Naturals. It made no difference to him, of course— Newtypes had power far beyond a Natural or Coordinator.

Or, he mused, scanning the audience and picking out a certain boy in a red uniform, the Ultimate Coordinator.

Closing his eyes, he sat back and waited.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Today is a day of remembrance," Canaver said, "as well it should be. Many lives were lost on this day. But it would be a disservice to all those who died if we were to simply mourn, and do nothing to build a world where their sacrifice will never have to be made again. Today should be a day of progress, and celebration of our newfound peace, as much as it should be a day of mourning. In just six months since the end of the war, we have come far.

"My call for national unity today is not a partisan maneuver," she continued. "If we are to have progress, no matter what the politics of that progress are, we must make peace with the Naturals. We must not be menaced— we must embrace them, join them, and together we can move forward. Who among us would want otherwise?"

In the shadows, Rau smiled.

"There is nothing to justify further war!" Canaver cried. She extended her arms. "We must reconcile, and together we can walk forward towards a new future!"

Canaver fell silent— the audience, and the politicians and officers behind her, stared at her quizzically as she was motionless. Finally, she pitched backward, collapsing onto the stage as the audience gasped and the officers rushed around her, blood pouring from a bullet hole in her heart.

As the calm turned to chaos, Gilbert masked his smile and rushed in towards the Chairwoman.

——————————————————————————————————————————

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

Djibril grinned as the dead Chairwoman collapsed onto the stage in a pool of blood. The officers and politicians rushed in around her, trying to save her, but everyone could see that it was too late. The Earth Sphere had just watched Chairwoman Canaver, herald of peace for Coordinator and Natural alike, get gunned down. There was no way to undo the damage now.

But, he mused as he stood, his cat leaping off his lap in annoyance, there was still a lot of fanning these flames needed.

He rang up a number, and a lined face appeared on his screen.

"Mr. Vermilyea," he began with a sinister smile. On the other end, Adam Vermilyea turned from his screen, emblazoned with the image of chaos around the Chairwoman's corpse, towards Djibril. "I see you just saw our wonderful opportunity."

"Did you order this?" Vermilyea asked, gesturing at the screen.

"I didn't _order_ it," Djibril answered, "but I knew about it."

"How?" Vermilyea pressed on pointedly. Djibril grinned.

"You'll know soon enough," he said airily. "No, I didn't _order_ this, but I have every intention of taking advantage of it." He sat back down in his chair. "I recall you saying you had connections to a Blue Cosmos cell near the PLANTs?"

"Something like that," Vermilyea answered, arching an eyebrow at Djibril. "Why?"

Djibril's grin flashed feral. "Make those connections sing," he said. "Have them get a video up to the PLANTs, telling them that Blue Cosmos is responsible for this."

"But we're not," Vermilyea protested.

"So what?" Djibril shot back. "We'll present the PLANTs with an image of our organization resurgent, and test the mettle of the PLANTs' next leader."

Vermilyea paused for a moment, and then smiled. "I'll make a few calls," he said.

Djibril smiled back. "You do that."

——————————————————————————————————————————

**PLANT Aprilius 1, Lagrange Point 5**

"I saw a flash up there!" one of the soldiers cried, pointing off towards one of the balconies.

"But it hit her from the other side! Move!" another shot back.

The crowd was in a panic, scrambling for the exits, as the soldiers rushed around, struggling to find the assassin and maintain order. In the depths of the chaos, Kira drew his gun and leapt over a row of empty seats, onto the stage. It was time to play his part.

"Councilors!" he shouted, brandishing his gun and looking around, as if still seeking the assassin. "It's still dangerous here! Please evacuate!"

A team of ZAFT soldiers shouldered their way through the crowds, bearing a stretcher, as a handful of officers and desperate Councilors struggled to revive the Chairwoman.

"Is the assassin still there?!" one of the Councilors shouted.

"Where is he?! Have you found him yet?!"

Kira wrenched himself from their grip. "We haven't found the killer yet!" Kira shouted back. "Until we do, it's still dangerous to be in the open like this! Please evacuate, there are soldiers standing by to take you to safety!"

From the crowd rose Gilbert Dullindal. "We should do as he says," he exclaimed. "This assassin killed the person most crucial to the peace process. We should evacuate before he can kill anymore."

Another swarm of ZAFT soldiers swept in to seize the politicians and officers and pull them away from the corpse, as the first team loaded the dead Chairwoman onto the stretcher.

Kira glanced over his shoulder and took off backstage, leaping down a staircase and heading towards an open door, manned by a squad of riot gear-equipped guards herding the panicking crowds by. Valentine was nearby, brandishing her gun and shouting orders at the fleeing civilians.

"The troops are pulling the other Councilors off the stage," Kira said quickly. "Any luck out here?"

"We'll never find the killer here," Valentine answered. "He could be anywhere in this crowd."

Kira glanced back as the ZAFT soldiers rushed past, the Chairwoman on their stretcher, towards a waiting ambulance. A horrible feeling of guilt and sickness welled up inside him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head, and turned to rush back towards the stage.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ramirez stumbled blindly through the alleys, the shouts of ZAFT troops and panicking civilians ringing in his ears. He glanced in terror over his shoulder, finding no one there— he rounded a corner, staggering through a grimy puddle and crashing up against a wall.

"They're gonna find me…" he breathed, climbing back to his feet and shouldering his rifle again. "Rau! Where are you?!"

Footsteps sounded from the shadows— Ramirez whirled around, training his rifle on the darkness.

"Is that you?!" he demanded.

The figure emerged, chuckling.

"Yes," Rau answered, arms crossed, "it's me."

Ramirez lowered his rifle with a sigh of relief. "Thank God, man," he sighed. "Now get me outta here. They're gonna tear me apart if they find me. You promised, man."

"Indeed I did," Rau said. "Did anyone follow you?"

Ramirez looked around worriedly. "'course not," he said, "now come on, quit screwing around, we gotta go!"

Rau raised a gun in his right hand. Ramirez stared in disbelief at the weapon, trained on his chest.

"What the— you said you'd send me somewhere where they wouldn't find me!" he cried, backing up against a wall.

Rau smiled. "I did," he agreed. "And trust me, they will never, ever find you."

The gunshot rang out through the alley.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kira went barreling through the alleys, a squad of armed ZAFT soldiers right behind him, guns drawn. There had been a gunshot somewhere in the alleys behind the audience hall, but nobody had reported in about it. And so Kira and the men behind him went racing through the labyrinthine back paths, when Kira already had an inkling of what they would come upon when they got there.

They rounded a corner and came to a halt as they came upon a corpse, dressed in ragged brown and gray clothes, stained with blood, a silenced sniper rifle slung over his shoulder.

"What the hell is this?!" one of the troops exclaimed. "He's already dead?! Who killed him?!"

"Get a medical team out here," Kira said, pocketing his gun, glancing back at the soldiers, as one of them went for his radio. "Someone get the rifle, too. This must be the guy."

As more soldiers poured into the alley, swarming over the corpse, Kira watched stoically.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"This is the part where I can't kill anyone to make it better," Rau warned Gilbert, standing in the shadows outside the Supreme Council building. "You'd better make this work. We can only kill so many Interim Chairmen."

"I understand," Gilbert said. He glanced over his shoulder. "Get going. We're going to take the vote soon."

Rau disappeared into the shadows, and Gilbert emerged to be instantly mobbed by a throng of reporters, desperate to know what had happened. A squad of soldiers rushed in to shove them back, as Gilbert made his way towards the Council building.

All that influence, he thought, would have to come to a head today.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Valentine looked up at the screen above her and smiled as a scowling man in a camouflage jacket replaced the familiar face of the PLANT anchor. The soldiers and the panicking civilians stopped, looking up in surprise.

"Earlier today, Interim Supreme Chairwoman Eileen Canaver of the PLANTs was assassinated during a speech," the man declared, his voice booming over the heads of the citizens. "And the trigger was pulled by us of Blue Cosmos!"

Angry shouts rose up from the crowd, as the Blue Cosmos guerilla grinned wickedly.

"Canaver had tried to build a false peace where we Naturals would be subjugated by the unnatural order of the Coordinators!" he shouted. "We will not stand for such barefaced oppression and treachery! See our power, Coordinators! You thought we had died with the end of the war, but we have returned, and this time we will fight with strength a hundredfold! You will tremble, and your hourglasses will shatter, before the might of our blue and clean world!"

The screens went dark— the shouts grew angrier— and Valentine slipped into the shadows to laugh.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Supreme Council chamber was quiet as the members of the Supreme Council took their places. Gilbert sat down at his own space, watching the grim faces of the still-shocked Councilors as they filed in. There was no one to rival him in political influence and goodwill, but that did not make his election a sure bet. But there was nothing he could do now.

"This has been an eventful and tragic day," one of the Councilors began, as the doors slid shut. "Not a year has passed since the end of the war, and already blood is being spilled again."

"It was Blue Cosmos," another Councilor spat. "I knew we couldn't make peace without them doing something, but to think they'd go this far…"

"Enough," the first Councilor said. "We have not come here to commiserate; we have come here to select a new leader, to take us out of these dark times. Cast your votes as to who among us you believe is best suited to lead us in this new age."

There was silence. Gilbert steeled himself and cast his own vote, for an ill-known Councilor he doubted anyone else would vote for.

The first Councilor watched his screen carefully. At last, he looked up meaningfully at Gilbert.

The dark-haired Councilor stood.

"Councilor Dullindal," the first Councilor said, "the votes are in and you are the man we have selected. Do you accept the Chairmanship?"

Gilbert smiled.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The PLANTs were still rocked by confusion and fury when Kira found himself back in his dark hotel room, staring at his television set. It showed no news reports, speeches, or investigations, but instead a single tape.

Kira watched lifelessly as he watched the grainy, broken video of hundreds of men, hunkered down in a huge earthen trench, huddling together as explosions showered them with loose dirt. Gas masks hung around their necks, and they looked as though they had not eaten in days. They stared with haunting emptiness at the camera, as rats scurried by them. He watched an army of men, phantom-like figures steeped with weapons and wearing intimidating metal helmets, snapped open a fence and streamed into an open field, with planes droning overhead and tanks mercilessly crushing whatever was in front of them; all under the steely watch and the stiff, outstretched arm of a man in a brown uniform with a red armband. He saw a terrifying, towering cloud billow up over a city— and the city disappearing beneath it. He saw soldiers wandering through the empty, dusty courtyard of a camp, surrounded by rotting bodies strewn all over. He saw men moving mechanically through a jungle, their eyes empty and their faces blank, loosely holding rifles as they tramped on like toy soldiers. He saw skyscrapers falling; he saw soldiers in the desert, in dusty, impoverished cities; he saw clouds of gas looming over cities; he saw soldiers gunning down the unarmed, the sick, the elderly, those who needed protecting.

Finally, the image settled on the specter of a dead soldier, killed on a battlefield somewhere, his sacrifice consigned to the dusty depths of history. He stared with a gaping mouth and blank eyes, as the breeze blew through his hair and over his unfeeling face.

And, closing his eyes, Kira saw Fllay die again.

A hand touched his shoulder gently— Kira looked up in surprise, finding Valentine sitting next to him, looking at him inquisitively.

"You're looking at it again?" she asked. Kira nodded solemnly and looked back at the screen.

"This is why we did it," he said, "right?" He pointed at the screen, at the slain soldier's soulless face. "So these kind of things don't happen again?"

"Human history is doomed to repeat itself, and all the suffering and carnage it wrought on itself, without ever learning to stop," Valentine said, putting her arms around Kira. "We're going to stop that pain."

Kira looked back at the screen.

The empty eyes of the dead soldier stared back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

End


End file.
